Sunday, August 16, 2020

Thursday 30 July


 
Because of tomorrow's planned shut down, John goes off shopping this morning.  He comes back saying town is exactly the same as usual and he found the police very laid back and not too bothered about stopping people.

By afternoon, people on Facebook are saying that the army has come in and cleared everyone early, forcing shops and businesses to close.  It’s sometimes very difficult to gauge what is going on.  T is possible to go into town and not see very much to alarm you, but in a different part of town at a different time of day, it is a different story.

It is hard to escape a feeling of trepidation about tomorrow.  The opposition in Zimbabwe is really quite useless and has not achieved much over the last few years. People say that everyone is afraid, but I wonder sometimes if there is more to it than that.

Here is an example of a typical Zimbabwean response to a ‘problem’: a friend of mine was telling me how everyone had been given extra responsibilities at work with the result that she struggled to get her main job done to her usual high standard every day.  Eventually,  she and two colleagues who felt the same way, wrote a letter of complaint to their boss. The situation did not get better; it got worse and all three of them felt victimised.  One day, another colleague asked her what was wrong and she explained how all the extra responsibilities were too much.  The colleague listened and then burst into laughter.  ‘Look,’ she said, ‘do what I do.  Nod your head, say ‘yes, sir, no, sir’ and then do your own thing.  No one will ever know.  The boss never checks on anything.  It’s all talk.’

This is Zimbabwe for you: stop at roadblocks, pay bribes, know that ultimately you are a cog within a wheel, but use it to your own advantage.  Make a plan. To go out and protest is futile.  You know that and they know that.  Better to sell US dollars on the side of the road or become a runner, selling South African goods.  Nothing is ever going to change so make the situation work for you.

We receive a booking for next week.

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