Dear life

Wow! Just Wow…and NOT in a good way. Last week you did your utmost best to make my life an absolute misery…the really sad part was that the week was a really short one.

While technically the week started off well as I spent Monday and most of Tuesday in my home town visiting the parentals, the rest of the week did not have quite the same vibe. On Tuesday night, shortly after returning to Jozi, The Italian and I broke up. Now I realise most of you don’t even know about The Italian…this was done mostly on purpose…but just as he was starting to weave his way into my social media life it all came to an end. I suppose as far as breakups go it wasn’t that bad. We had a long talk and parted ways very amicably….for this I’m grateful. Breakups can be so messy and horrible…I suppose I’m kind of lucky. Anyway…despite the fact that we parted ways amicably, breakups still suck. I don’t easily let people in…and the fact that someone I trusted enough to let in was just no longer there is not only painful, but also slightly depressive.

So anyway…my week was NOT going well and then of course YOU had to make it worse. On Friday morning, shortly after having seen my chiropractor and getting awesome feedback from him, some idiot in a BERCO express delivery van (with bullbars) decided NOT to stop at the red traffic light. The same light where a whole bunch of other cars had already stopped and had been waiting for the light to change for some time. Needless to say he smashed into the back of my car pretty hard….there goes all the progress I’ve made with my chiropractor. But worse than that…my poor 4 month old car:( I’m still heartsore when I think about it.

Look, in all honesty the actual damage isn’t that bad. But I still have to go through all the admin of an insurance claim and I’ll still have to drive around in a stupid rental while my baby gets fixed. I’m not impressed.

So right now the scoring is as follows: Life 2 Ruby 0. Now you might have won this particular battle, but I can assure you that you will NOT win this war. Prepare to kiss my ass.

Regards
Ruby
xxxx

Dear Bosslady

So, today marks the one year anniversary of becoming self-employed. Yay me! It has not been easy and at times it has been down right stressful. But I have to tell you that not for one single second in the last year did I regret my decision. It has been an amazing learning curve, not only with regards to my trade, but also with regards to myself, my friends, my faith and life in general.

So here’s to stepping out, to being brave and to doing my own thing. Happy anniversary to me:)

Dear license renewal people

On Monday morning I decided to embark on an adventure. I had to renew my driver’s license. Fun right? So after I spent the morning sleeping through 3 alarms, setting off my house alarm, knocking my shoulder alarmingly hard against a door frame and launching a mad search for my ID book which suddenly decided to disappear I finally ventured to your offices.

Your staff was less than friendly from the get go. No clear directions on where you are supposed to go or who you are supposed to speak to could be found. After pulling a ditzy blonde move some other victims of the system indicated where I had to go wait in line. It was a LOOOOONG line. I was quite happy to stand and wait my turn…but then I was instructed to “SIT DOWN!!!” rather loudly. I gave the filthy, sweat and germ infested fabric coated chairs a swift once over and politely declined, stating that I’d rather stand. A rather intense tongue lashing quickly changed my mind and I found myself balancing right on the edge of the chair, trying my best not to actually touch anything with my bare skin and cursing myself for wearing a short little dress.

But this was only the start. It was HOT and there was not a fan or an aircon in sight. I feel for the staff…I really do…it can’t be easy having to work in those conditions..but trust me..they sure as hell made sure we understood what an absolute pain it was for them to work there O_o. After not moving at all for what seemed like an eternity, the line finally started moving. This meant more filthy chairs, more balancing acts and, in an attempt not to be bored to death, chatting with the people sitting around me. I was then shouted at for talking to much by one of the people working there…REALLY??

When it was nearly my turn for eye tests etc. I had the unique opportunity to tweet the following:
(Arch being catch of course) Yeah that was pleasant…NOT. I had absolutely no idea how to react. Do I ask him what the hell he’s doing? Do I shout and throw a little tantrum and risk getting shouted at again? Do I make a joke about it? I just didn’t know how to deal with it…but was luckily saved from having to deal with said neighbour for much longer when it was my turn.

I smiled all friendly like, said “Hi” and started asking the guy behind the table a question. Right in the middle of my question he started talking. Then proceeded to shout at me saying: “Stop talking when I’m talking!!!”. Excuse me??? I was talking FIRST! I think you could literally HEAR my jaw dropping when he followed that up with a “Now be quiet!”. Really? Firstly…you interrupted me and then you shout at me??? What the hell? I could have sworn I had walked into a parallel universe when I entered that building.

So I promptly snapped my mouth shut and listened to his instructions very carefully. Pull the little lever in the direction of the solid line. That shouldn’t be too hard right? Except that he informed me I needed glasses and failed the eyetest completely. It was at this point I finally snapped, figured out he explained the procedure to me incorrectly and then told him in no uncertain terms that he better allow me to do the eye test AGAIN or I would make the rest of his human life a complete and utter misery. I was allowed to retake the test…my eyesight, as 5 years ago, is perfect.

I was then sent to a new line in order to pay…oh joy! another line of dirty, sweaty, germy, fabric covered seats….at this point in time I was tired of being surrounded by freaks taking pictures of my feet, the heat and being shouted at…I couldn’t wait to get out of there. The payment line went smoothly and quickly except for one incident where the girl working in front stepped out to shout at EVERYONE waiting in line telling us that we’re useless because ONE guy didn’t have his R300 ready and waiting when he got to the front. He had to actually take it out of his wallet… SCANDAL!

So guys…please…train your staff…send them on a people skill course…clean your waiting area….allow people to stand if they so choose and for goodness sake install some aircons or fans in that place!

Regards
Ruby
xxx

Dear America

In 2 months EXACTLY we will be preparing to take off on our super fun “new year’s in New York” holiday. I CAN’T wait:) 2 months exactly today:) This time round I’ll be able to watch this here ball drop for realz! Partying in the new year in style in Time’s square…these are the things dreams are made of:)

I’ll be walking these streets once again:

Drinking good and proper Starbucks and it will taste even better because I’m in America

And I’ll be seeing these sights again, and also plenty plenty more that I didn’t get a chance to enjoy the last time:

And I get to shop at Macy’s #FTW

Last time I was fortunate enough to experience all of this with my family. This year I get to celebrate the new year and see and experience all of this with my best friend. Life is pretty awesome and I certainly hope that the next 2 months will fly by:)

Love
Ruby
xxxxx

Dear Human Race

What on earth happened to humanity? What happened to respect for human life? What happened to compassion?

But wait….I’m getting ahead of myself. Many of the people who read this here blog are not on twitter and don’t know the circumstances that brought on this little WHAT? parade. So let me tell the story first.

Last night after work I headed on over to a complex in sunninghill to pick up a set of keys from the supervisor as a favour for a friend. As I turned into the entrance of the complex I heard shouting, saw a bunch of young men run away and realised that one of the young men was slowly making his way towards the entrance. When he got to the entrance he collapsed, and it was only then that I realised he was covered in blood. Adrenaline kicked in and I was phoning Emergency Services within seconds.

The security guard manning the entrance helped the man out of the road and used his jacket as a cushion so as to keep his head elevated. He then came running towards me begging me to help him to help the man as he didn’t have a phone and no way of contacting an ambulance. The relieved look on his face when I told him the ambulance was already en route and that I wouldn’t leave him on his own, is one I’ll never forget. I managed to park my car and get my “Car first Aid” kit out of the trunk and together the security guard and I managed to at least apply some gauze and a bandage to the man’s head. Well, the security guard did the work (wearing the rubber gloves from my first aid kit) and I stood next to him explaining what he needed to do. It was at this time that I was forced to look at the wound on this guy’s head. It was horrible. Just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach.

Because his wound appeared to be rather severe I was trying to keep him talking. With a head wound like that the last thing we needed was for him to go to sleep or pass out. The story came tumbling out slowly. His name is Andrew. He was walking home with his friends when his friends started arguing and fighting amongst one another. He tried to stop the fight and then one of his “friends” stabbed him in the head, robbed him of all his stuff and ran off. They took everything. He couldn’t remember his surname, nor was he able to give me a contact number for a next of kin. He was losing blood at an alarming rate, drifting in and out of consciousness and starting to slur, and still no ambulance.

Many people passed us. Most just stared and drove off. Nobody offered to help, nobody wanted to be involved. Most people probably thought he was a thug anyway. My heart was breaking. After waiting for an ambulance for nearly 40mins a young gentleman (and I call him a gentleman because he truly deserves that label) was leaving the complex. He stopped next to us and offered to take the victim to a hospital. He said that he could understand that as a young lady it would be dangerous for me to take the guy to a hospital, but he’s been watching us and we’ve been waiting for an ambulance for a long time and the victim was fading fast. He just felt he had to do something. He was still willing, even after I explained the risks to him in case the victim should die on us. I have a great respect for this man…there are still some good people in the world.

We helped the victim into the car and they sped off. The amount of blood that had soaked the jacket we were using as a cushion and the ground around where Andrew was lying was alarming. I canceled the ambulance, completely forgot to get the keys and headed home. Waiting to hear what happened to him. The gentleman phoned me about 2 hours later. He had rushed to the nearest hospital, which was a private hospital, because the guy was fading fast. I was impressed to hear that the private hospital accepted him, even though he didn’t have a medical aid. He lapsed into a coma shortly after he arrived and his wounds were labeled “severe”. He was taken to ICU shortly after he arrived and the hospital assured the gentleman that they would try to stabilize him, but as soon as it was possible they would have to move him to a government facility as he didn’t have a medical aid. The fact that they were willing to treat him though, and that they are willing to continue treating him until they can move him impressed me. They also promised to give us some more feedback on the victim today. The stab wound did however reach far within the brain, and even if he did survive he would suffer long-term brain damage:(

Due to the robbery he had no ID and the only information we were able to get from him was his name. The hospital notified the police who came to get his fingerprints in an attempt to ID him. My heart ached knowing that there might be a mom/wife/child/sister/brother/father/girlfriend at home who couldn’t understand why their loved one wasn’t coming home and we had no way of notifying them.

I didn’t sleep very well last night. Every time I closed my eyes all I saw was blood and the wound *cringe*. I’m feeling rather jaded this morning and it’s probably a combination of sadness and lack of sleep. What really got to me was the attitude of people in general. People didn’t want to be involved. People were scared to help. And while I’m shocked and appalled by this, at the same time I can, to an extent, understand it. Has our country become so bad that people refuse to become involved because it is too dangerous? And because our country has changed so much that you can no longer just help other people because the danger of you being dragged into something and being accused and tried for various things. How very sad. I remember a time when people would assist people involved in a car crash because the main focus was on saving a life. These days people don’t because they are afraid of being sued for damaged or being held responsible should a victim die, even though it was not their fault. It’s shocking!

I realised another thing…diseases like AIDS have changed us as human beings and our levels of compassion forever. Even after I had retrieved the rubber gloves from my first aid kit I was not really willing to physically assist the victim, and I was only too grateful when someone as selfless as the security guard grabbed the gloves and was more than willing to assist as long as I was willing to instruct him on what to do. What would I have done if he had not been there? Would I have conquered my fear of this dreaded disease and realise that I was doing what I could, or would I have stood by and just waited for the ambulance to arrive? Or would I have found a different way of helping him without putting myself in danger? The truth is…I don’t know. Does this make me an awful person? I don’t really know the answer to that either:/ Could I have done more yesterday? In this case I don’t think so. I wasn’t alone and we did what we could and we phoned an ambulance and we kept him warm and we kept him awake, which was a hell of a lot more than a whole bunch of other people were doing.

Andrew and his family are in my prayers. I’ll keep you guys updated as and when we hear from the police.

Regards,

Ruby

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Category: Big City