Independant Biltong Slices

Some things couldn’t work in South Africa. The American/ English system of pumping your own petrol is a good place to start. We’re not disciplined enough to do it. I’m not. Come the 20th of the month, stranded on the way home from a bar in Walmer, car dying of thirst and payday lurking in the shadows like a guilty conscience— I’d struggle NOT to sneak a Rhino’s worth of petrol to get home.
Same goes for refillable cool drinks at fast food restaurants. You’d have people sneaking paper cups of Fanta out the window at Mc Donald’s all day if we had bottomless soda fountains. I don’t mean this in a bad way. There’s just too much hunger and poverty around us for businesses to give away commodities.

There are plenty of things that DO work in South Africa, but probably wouldn’t elsewhere. Freelance car guards, for example. I know people get irritated with car guards, but think about life in South Africa without them? The ingenuity of the car guard movement is a collective act of genius. The market for car guards just created itself out of need. Instead of stealing cars, unemployed people started making sure other people didn’t— for a fee. I’ll gladly pay someone a few bucks to watch my car, while I’m surfing or at the shops.
Vuvuzelas at soccer matches are another one. Where in the world can a swarm of people blow the vuvuzela during a sporting event, wearing a pair of shades like the Niknaks man and be so natural?

Watching the Billabong Pipe Masters online last night got me thinking about this. Several international surfers in the top 45 gave up their spot in the competition, so that local wild cards could compete instead. The local surfers make a living out of surfing on the North Shore, and end up doing better than most competitors from elsewhere, anyways. It seems to be the respectful thing to do. I’ve never been to Hawaii, so I don’t understand the gravity of local rule on the island, but I’ve been reading some pretty heavy descriptions. There seems to be a set of rules and regulations that can only work in Hawaii; a way of doing things that makes the whole experience of going there completely unique. On the Zigzag website, there is a daily blog about the Hawaiian season, complete with details about the contests. http://zigzaghawaiiblog.blogspot.com/.