Task: A letter to someone. Anyone
Honey...
Dear : Jo'burg Taxi Driver
Yes, you from MTN taxi rank and Bree.
Please take a minute to sit down and take what I am about to say to heart.
I am the customer and you are the service provider. Please give me the respect a customer deserves.
I am the reason you put food on the table.
Please refrain from brushing my thigh when you change gears. The level of discomfort this brings to my life is un-quantifiable.
A simple thank you would be nice after I've been subjected to counting your money.
It is not my job. So what if I get confused with how much change " 3 R8.50's with a 100 bucks is."
It would be ideal if you kept one of those cheap calculators just by that space where the radio used to be.
This would save passengers the grief of witnessing the arguments over 50cents change.
Please be aware that, contrary to what you have been told, you are transporting human beings with children and loving partners waiting for them at home.
So please stop at a red robot, indicate when you are about to change lanes.
(Please refer to K53 that comes with this letter).
Yes I am black but not all black people speak Zulu. Why should every taxi ride feel like a forced zulu tutorial. Please cater to the demographics of your clients. "Ke a fologa hao fetsa go jika"
We live in a liberal country with freedom to wear whatever we please.
Allow me to wear my dresses and mini skirts as and how I please.
And stop saying "my size"and licking your lips every time I pass.
Please refrain from attempting to grab or touch me when I walk by.
Just because your actions have been condoned over the years doesn't make it less of a sexual harassment act.
Now that I have addressed my grievances I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for providing us passengers the ability to navigate Jo'burg. I have yet to find a place that I cannot catch a taxi to.
Yours Sincerely
Passenger
Sifiso...
Dear Past Sifiso (Grade 7 - Mrs Moonsamy's class)
This is future-self filling you in on how life has turned out for us.
First is on the agenda is girls. They are not as disgusting as you claimed. We like girls (and their germs now). A lot. I'm not married and it's not on the radar yet.
You've got great taste and I'm still working on that Christina Milian chick you saw on MTV
Next, is career. No, I am not a sports star, sport scientist or sports agent.
I'm kinda in between careers, but never unemployed.
Remember Boiler Room with Vin Diesel? You're gonna watch it again and really get into investing. Then you'll watch Wall Street and be sold to investing.
You're also going to watch Cocktail (Tom Cruise) and you're going to become a master bar tender.
You're gonna start studying music next year (no movie reference).
So you will be a musician, mixologist and an investor all at the same time, so good luck with that.
So my advice: when you choose what study, major in behavioural finance - accounting will cramp your style. Behavioural finance is at the heart of everything you enjoy.
Get into the habit of giving things your best shot. You're quite a lazy dude in high school, but you don't need to spare anything for later in life.
Ask questions and plenty of them - you don't have to figure everything out yourself. You're surrounded by great people.
So you know the money you've saved up, but couldn't decide how to spend? That money will continue to grow throughout high school, until you complete your degree and you're going to spend it on giving your mother a great 50th birthday party! :) Then you'll be broke and start saving again - well played kid!
Last, but not least, is your pals. All the pals you have now, you will keep. Yeah, strangely enough, you'll reconnect with a lot of them after high school. Your crew will get much bigger over time, but you'll more often than not, have a closer connection to the originals. You guys will go through some testing times, some interesting times, wild times and plenty of fun times.
You've chosen good people to have in your life and you're privileged to be chosen, by such great people. These guys will shape many fundamental aspects of your life, but remain aware of the influence you have on them too.
As much you love your friends, never forget to honour your mum and dad - not because they're great parents, but partly because God says so. God is good and He knows His stuff - you're going to need Him A LOT!
Yours sincerely,
Future-self
Me...
Dear Second Year Student
You didn't see this one coming, hey? Everybody seems to focus on the first years or graduates and you're, well, you're like the middle child, you fill in the gap between the youngest and oldest child and someone get lost in it all (this is me speaking as a middle child, so yeah). Well, I am here to tell you that while the whole world is going on with life, I am here and I care (well today anyway). This letter is for you, whether you're a second time first year or really just a fresh second year student doing second year for the first time (sadly I shall not be addressing second time second year students, that is a letter for another day).
First year was fun and all, meeting new people, starting new relationships, migrating from clique to clique; but I'm sure by now you have established who your friends are. Hopefully you have chosen the right ones, who are not only there for the fun times but are also there to help you grow. I trust by now you have dropped the cool act by trying to act like somebody you are not just for the sake of 'Keeping up with the Jonses', here's a tip nobody may have told you before; be yourself! Now that first year has shown you that you are not the smartest, most good looking, fittest or richest kid in school contrary to any labels you may have won in your small town school, you can now start to work with what you have to prepare yourself for life after varsity.
Firstly, study and pass and get good grades. When you graduate you are going to be up some tough competition, simply passing is no longer acceptable, push for higher marks, it'll count in your favour, if this is not possible, focus on passing.
It's ok to not attend all your classes all the time I guess, but attending (and completing) tutorials and setting up one-on-one consultation sessions with your lecturer makes your work easier to understand and can guarantee an improvement in your grades. Also. be consistent; never fall behind in class, even better, pre-read, as draining and unexciting it sounds, it helps. Oh and please do find a day in the week where you just relax, Fridays after your last class is usually ideal.
Secondly, do something not academically related that will add value to your CV, seek some outreach programmes that you can take part in, consider visiting a children's home once a month or help paint houses or schools for charity or whatever.
Join a society but don't just be a member, be part of the executive committee, be active, learn, add value and network.
Gain some work experience in your field of study; a lot of companies offer winter programmes, so take some time off Facebook and rather Google to find out which companies relevant to you offer such, alternatively, a lot of companies are also constantly seeking brand ambassadors and usually advertise on campus, keep your eyes peeled for this, it's flexible, fun and just a great way to earn some extra cash.
Find a mentor; this does not necessarily have to be someone that much older but an experienced person would be beneficial. Seek guidance and learn from them, if your relationship is really successful, they may even help open doors for you.
So yeah, that's my 2 cents worth, I've done the figuring it out part, now all you have to do is execute. There's a boardroom out there waiting for you and the work starts now!
Sincerely,
Been-there, done-that
