Racist bitch got the nerve

On my first blog, Made SA's best midwives, I mentioned having had a small but worrying encounter with my racist neighbour at our estate complex in Mooikloofridge. And this is a fitting time to write about it as I figured I was not being confronted by a racist, but also someone who may feel as insecure as I do feel in the new South Africa with the spill of crime being so pervasive - almost everyone distrusts their neighbour, but a the same time, good neighbourliness can curb some crimes, petty and serious contact crimes.

Sleepless
Past 12am one January night I am tossing and turning tirelessly losing my precious sleep. I decided to bear with the 'lady' downstairs for the noise as she was chit chatting the night away with her friends as they cracked uncontrollably. This was not a first and I have never being too bothered by it as it's mostly on weekends (Fridays mainly).

Bitch got the nerve
Nice neighbourly me, I wake up in the morning and traditional shangaan (Thomas Chauke) music and then Mozart to relax me into the Saturday. I made sure the volume was at level considerate of my neighbours - the chit chatter included. Well, at about 9.30am, some 9hours after a chit chatting contest around a beer I assume, the bitch down stairs got the nerve to show me that she prefers quite tranquility on Saturday mornings. My wife calls me at the door saying there's a security 'chief' of the estate - the messenger came to instruct us to turn down the volume. Of course I refused and asked him "which volume, I'm sure you have the wrong unit number". He insisted the lady who called said "noise. unit 69. Eaglewood!"

Belligerent Izz vs the 'chief'
I asked, although with sense of agitation and a tone of belligerence in my voice, that the security 'chief' go and ask my lovely neighbour to come see me and tell me that I am making noise - she is trying to enjoy her lost sleep. I told him if that happened, I would, with a smile, even shut my cd player (and just relax with a I book, I thought to myself). On their website, the estate managers claim that 'ladies and gentlemen do not need rules'. Beautiful. I love that. It further states that in the spirit of community, neighbourliness, residents must attempt all options known to them to resolve a problem directly with the 'culprit' and only approach management - security included - as the last resort. Well, the partying bitch downstairs decided she was too tired perhaps to do herself - since she didn't sleep as she was busy screwing up my sleep with a bunch of possibly drunk friends.

Preferential messenger
The 'chief' never went back to the lady to sent back the message, as he was leaving I demanded a name so I can reconcile with my neighbour and remind her that it's best to stay good neighbours and next time approach me, at least once, before setting security hot heads on me.

Now why is this racist
Two weeks later, a school guy and his girlfriend decided to put out full volume on their stereo after, I can assume, returning from night binging in town at 3am. (The parents, I later learnt, were away for the weekend). Mine is a small portable CD player, and the noise that came from that stereo, told me it was something high quality and massive in size. No one bothered, not at that time or in the morning, to lay a complain with the young couple or the security - I later learnt. And of all the 10 neighbours nearby me, all are white, yes, including the blonde bitch downstairs.

Total convenience
They all never bothered to complain -and to me, I find it a total convenience that the blonde downstairs was home - she blahbed the night away in her style on earlier in the evening - but she never raised a finger. The stereo roared away with Dozi for nearly 3 hours. On trying to approach this guys, I couldn't gain access as the gate was locked - and I was approaching with the spirit of neighbourliness and I am sure they would have understood, as I assume they didn't even realise the noise pollution in a state of intoxication.

So except for me, all the neighbours juse chilled and enjoyed Dozi and the highest volume at 3am till 6! It's other I am racist or the 'lady' blonder downstairs was just being blonde to the comparison that I would make about descrimination. FYI: the 3am-stereo is closer to her bedroom window than my petite CD player.

... smacks of racism to me!

Black and white neighbourliness?
So may be if you're black, you are associated with noising and nuancense to your fellow citizens and neighbours (some whites) regardless of your lifestyle and preference for neighbourliness. It is a pity! Losing a neighbour (or neighbourlineess) is, to me, equavalent to losing a friend and security guard - for as neighbours, we can also report on anything suspicious we see happening in our neighbourhoods, therefore minising the unsafety that engulfs South African neighbourhoods. I guess now if there was a suspcious lookng figure inside her house whilst she is away on the weekend I will just shut up and never call the 'chief'!

Through quite diplomacy and with lack of good judgement, she put an end to good neighbourliness.

My photos here: ____ www.flickr.com/photos/izzyone
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"Judge of a man by his questions, rather than by his answers." - Voltaire