One afternoon, I took a very difficult trip to Mamelodi to search for my friend, whom I hadn’t heard from for over a year. Before we lost contact, he had just moved to this new place that I only went to once, and it was at night, so I didn’t remember it well
Mamelodi is just 20 minutes away from my place, you can go there as many times as you can in a single day, but it was a difficult trip to take because I didn’t know what was waiting for me when I finally found the place where he lives. I didn't know whether he was still alive or had passed
He’s a guy who calls every once in a while, and his phone was never off. If I called and not find him, he would return my call. But that changed at some point, and I couldn’t find him at all. His phone was constantly off, and he didn’t even get back to me like he always does
After months of dragging, I finally took a trip to search for him. Fortunately, I only drove to the wrong street once, and the next one was his. One thing I remembered about the place from the night I was there to drop him off was the wall, it was different from other houses, and that's what made it easy to recognize the house. The relief I had when he showed up, I cannot describe it. I was so happy that I didn’t meet someone who would start crying when I asked about him
Just last week, I reconnected with one of our friends whom I last heard from, probably four or five years ago. I had her number all along, but I just couldn’t pick up the phone to call her until last week
A quick Reminder: A few years ago, we woke up to a disease that simply spread when one coughed, laughed, touched one another, or came into contact with surfaces. Imagine, a simple touch, boom, you’re sick. There were even rumours that it was moving with the air we breathe. At some point, they were busy with our rubbish in sewage pipes, maybe they had the means to determine what they found belonged to, but they did. We all remember the name Covid-19
For the longest time, we couldn’t see the beauty of the smiles of other people, we couldn’t shake each other’s hands, we couldn’t hug, we couldn’t sit in groups, couldn’t go anywhere as we used to. As man we couldn’t approach a lady with a nice body and hips, we were unable to tell whether the face matches the body, because we had to wear masks all the time, we couldn’t even visit each other, and those who were already staying together couldn’t escape one another. It was just a big prison, created in our minds
I don’t know wanna mention the stories associated with that period, how miserable most people were. I don’t even wanna mention the lies, the cruelty of the people in power, the constant washing and sanitizing of hands. It was just horrible
I must mention though, on a lighter note, social distancing was the best, especially in public places. I’m sure you’ve met those who stand right behind you, breathing heavily on your neck in the queue
Unfortunately, a lot of people lost their lives. One moment they were there talking to you, the next they were not. That’s how quickly it was, and a lot more controversies occurred. We couldn’t even say goodbye, because funerals were considered a gathering, which was prohibited at the time
Personally, I’m grateful that I came out of that time without a criminal record because I only obeyed social distancing guidelines. I was never gonna sit at home, alone, so I did everything I could to get myself out there. Besides, my eggs were never gonna sell themselves, and I was not ready to let my business die because I was scared I might get sick
But we sadly lost so many souls. Sometimes, you sit and think, there’s so and so that I used to talk to, but I haven’t heard from them for a while, I wonder what happened to them, and I must say it’s quite a challenge to reach out to them because you might get a surprise that they’re no more
