User:Nabico/sandbox

=Toll gates might be the answer=

Botswana like any other country is going through an economy downturn. Some major projects have been halted; others are running at end meets. Botswana being a landlocked country has some Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries using her roads to transport goods. The volume of trucks using roads are high, this contributes to the huge potholes on the roads. The road which is affected most is the A1 which stretches from Ramatlabama to Ramokgwebana. This road is the busiest because it also runs between two cities; it has potholes and wandering animals which cause accidents. The government of Botswana spends a lot of taxpayers money trying to repair the roads, the introduction of toll gates on the roads can help in generating  money for maintaining and repairing these roads. In our neighbouring countries like South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia toll gates are in operation and the revenue collected is used to repair and maintain roads. The infrastructure does not have to be of high standard when we start, we can start small like Zimbabwe and build on permanent structures when money has been collected. This will ease the government the burden of having to cough out money for maintaining the roads.

=Nighties-what a shame!=

Lately more emphasis is placed on women and children’s rights and gender influenced discrimination. The gender injustices that continue to prevail in Botswana have prompted gender workshops which are held often, but what is happening on the ground is the direct opposite of what is preached at these gatherings. It has recently become a norm to see some ladies going to the groceries shops wearing their “nighties” or night gowns. Nighties by the way are described as loose gown worn by a girl or a woman in bed. My sisters have introduced this, may be as a form of fashion, they sometimes go to the malls with kids also dressed in nightie dresses. Honestly, what morals are we teaching our kids? As women we are supposed to teach our kids table manners, social skills, personal hygiene, group discipline and many other forms of etiquette. Kids are expected to follow these codes into adulthood to become civilised members of society, but if we (women) are teaching them that it is okay to parade in a grocery shop in a bed gown, will we be able to re direct them. If it is making a statement as we believe fashion often does, then what statement are we shouting out? Do we really expect people to respect and value us if we do not dress appropriately? Something is amiss in the way we are allowing our suburban streets to overpower our upbringing. Nighties are for the bedroom or else if we can condone this behaviour, we will soon see women dressed in bikinis to the malls!

='''I was here.. so what?'''=

I sometimes get confused, not knowing whether to be grateful that I am a child of Africa or to resent it. We are fast to grasp what we may call civilisation but in most cases we never copy the behaviour and apply it as is, it’s either we distort it or sieve it-take what we believe will work for us and ignore the other. In my country, it’s the order of the day to be in a queue for any service you need. Even with the introduction of the cell phone banking, internet banking, you name them, we still go to the banks or water utilities, power offices and queue for the services which we can just do with our finger tips. Almost all the bills nowadays can be paid through punching in some numbers in our gadgets; you don’t have to go out and wait to be served. It is probably a habit which will take some time before we win it. In the midst of this, there is a phenomenon, which I am failing to understand, while waiting in these queues. You will see a stranger who will just show up and say “ I was here” meaning he had kept the queue for some time and moved out, but this person wants you to understand and give her/him another chance to so as to be served first. It is usually in front of you that is, if you are not careful every person who is coming can claim to be in front of you and this can take all your time. People should just know that if you keep a queue and decide to move out of it for another- as is always the case, you cannot come back and claim you were there, because you have made a decision to leave the queue. There is no how one person can be in two places at the same time- no way. That’s why I have a huge problem with it, mind you it’s even said in past tense, even if you can translate it in my language, Setswana that is,, its simply saying ke ne ke le fa! Yes you were here and now is my turn, go follow the queue if you really need to be served. You were here.. so what? i am sometimes tempted to ask but guess what? Even grown-ups say it. I was here!!. Do they do these in civilised countries where we copy most things?

=Cell phone lies=

When cell phones were introduced 16 years ago, I was a little sceptic to buy one. First because it was a gadget of class, people who owned it then were believed to have money. Secondly it appeared as if it was a must for the user to talk at the highest pitch of their voices. As time went on, I had no choice but to join in and get one. I discovered that cell phones are very convenient and they have made the world closer in all respect. What strikes me negatively though about this gadget is how the users have turned it into a lying machine. Cell phones have destroyed so many homes and relationships. Work places are not spared either, a worker who is late for work will lie about his/her whereabouts and claim to be in the toilet, at the parking lot or even in the next office. A senior officer will claim to have gone for a meeting even when he/she has crossed the border. A cheating girlfriend/wife will claim she is knocking off late because of too much work, when she is actually having dinner with a new partner. A cheating husband /boyfriend will lie about having gone to the cattle post when he is dating his mistress in a luxurious hotel. Lying on a cell phone is epidemic. Some of the accidents in our roads can be attributed to lies on cell phones. When you are supposed to be at a certain place at a given time, and you happen to be away from that place at an agreed time, you lie to say you are around the corner and when you realise that you might be caught, you drive at a high speed trying to cover up for the time and the distance, this might cause accidents. The thing is when you build a something on a lie, the consequences are that you are forced to maintain that lie longer than you expected. So let’s use cell phones wisely, let’s be truthful, because it feels right and good and loving. It allows us to live everyday with integrity. Let’s be honest with ourselves, and then act on the truth.

=Scene at dead traffic lights=

Traffic lights (robots) are meant to help regulate traffic flow in busy intersections. Drivers have become so accustomed to them that it has become difficult and confusing when they are not working. Back to basics, driving schools that is, where drivers’ first encounter with road signs, they are taught about 4 way stops and what to do when they approach them. When traffic lights are not working, drivers are expected to use the principle of 4 way stops. This is to exercise caution, and let the one who came first, to drive off first. I experienced a bizarre scene around Molapo Crossing shopping Centre, the usual had happened- power cuts, all the drivers who were at the front drove in the middle of the road, nearly bashing each other, on the process blocking traffic from flowing  from all sides. The traffic came to a stand still for almost an hour because even those at the back had pushed in. Where I was parked, I could clearly see that there was no accident, but the cars could not move simply because as drivers we could not exercise tolerance to each other, or everyone was in a hurry that we could not give each other chance, or maybe we simply did not know what to do when traffic lights are not working. The situation was rescued by a traffic officer after almost an hour. It was annoying, frustrating and embarrassing, if you think of it, to see mature people who could not think out of their right minds what to do, until one person come and think on their behalf. What are we really heading to as Batswana? We cannot give each other way on the roads? Really? I think we all need deliverance!!