adminIf life had a soundtrack just like in the movies probably the song playing in most people’s minds right now as they go about their business is the song Dhindindi Fulltime.
It’s the festive season. The bonus period is here, more money at workers disposal. Just like the saying goes “more money more problems” at home and the workplace. We are getting to hear stories of how some of us managed to finish their 13th cheque (already) in less than five hours at drinking holes. I have a friend who can drink a crate of beer in an hour. He sees this as a gift but I see it as a problem because this is the kind of a guy to avoid no matter how much money you have on you. I assure you all of it will get finished buying beer.
The bonus period is popular. Even children as young as five years old know that their parents get paid what is called a bonus at the end of the year. Growing up in the 90s once the bonus era came around we knew that our diet at home would change from the occasional sour milk, beef and veggies to more of chicken and rice.
In some instances your meal would be accompanied by a wash down as part of the carefree spending by our parents at that time. You would see less of your father because most of the time he would be at the shebeen.
At times stories of a parent buying all the drinks in the fridge at the shebeen would reach the ears at home. Suddenly the shebeen queen would become the friendliest person in the neighbourhood. It makes business sense because failure to do so would mean hunger for her in January as fewer people go to her place for beer. Only the addicts would go there not to buy but to drink on credit.
For the shebeen queen to stay ahead of everyone’s game in the industry she just had to buy an album by the Soul Brothers, Chicco, Chimora, Splash and any other bubble gum artiste of the era.
The earlier she got the latest music the better because her spot would be certified as the place to be in December. I remember the years before Rebecca Malope turned to gospel she released an album Ngizobathola (1988) whose title track by that name introduced her to the music industry.
She was talking about finally catching up with bubblegum prima donnas of that era the likes of Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Brenda Fassie and the Big Dudes, Mercy Phakela (Ayatshisa amateki fame) et al.
Malope set every shebeen alight even though now she preaches a different message in her music.
The December holiday is one that you would not dare mess up. Your grades at school had to be good or else when other children were taken to clothing stores such as Sales House and Edgars you would risk being taken to Matopo Book Centre to buy that mathematics textbook to improve the way you understood the pythagoras theorem.
If your parents were the total disciplinarians they would ship you to exile, ekhaya, aboard a chicken bus where even if you had paid the full fare you would not sit as some old woman would say “akungihlalise mntanami ngikuphathe,” only to return to town two days before schools open and you would be so out of touch with the music trends. The first week at school would be hell as the first composition assignment of the term would be “What I did over the holidays.”
The best day of them all would be Christmas followed by New Year. One had to ensure he/she had an outfit for Christmas and another for New Year. Come to think of it our parents would ensure that we bathed and spent more time in water than usual (in some cases you would even be bathed by your mother) because she wanted you to be at your best much to her satisfaction as her neighbour would also try to outdo her. Damn! We were being used as show off pawns, but well maybe we also liked it to some extent because your Xmas clothes would naturally be your first civvies day clothes at school.
The first time the Christmas period became gloomy was when the Minister of Finance in 1993 announced that the civil service would not get bonuses after the country had played host to the All Africa Games. That was painful to an extent that some of us even stopped believing Santa Claus. The situation was so bad that one family in the neighbourhood had sour milk on Christmas Day. A taboo it was.
Over the years things have changed I wonder what goes through the mind of a five-year-old when parents get their bonuses. One thing for sure is today’s children have more exposure to television and other things that have come by thanks to technological advancement.
Some parents say today’s children are more demanding. It goes beyond buying clothes they also want smart phones and ipads and I that. Instead of praying about their wishes to Santa Claus they post them on Facebook.
Online Reporter