26/03/2014

Step Out of Line

Opportunities.

Some people expect them to just come their way. And if they don’t happen, well, it wasn’t meant to be. If that’s the way you feel, then fine. As long as you’re dealing with it quietly. But then you get the other kind of expectant people. The ones who expect opportunity to give them a lap dance to let them know it's there. They're the ones who whine and complain and then expect some more.

As much as we may want it, opportunities do not come along, dancing and waving their little opportunity arms around, asking to be taken. Opportunities lurk where you don’t expect them, hiding in the corners, pretending to be out of your reach. But the thing is, they’re there.

You just need to track them down, grab them, get them in a headlock, and never let go.

I didn't grow up in a particularly wealthy family. My parents tried to give me what I wanted, but I could tell it wasn’t easy for them. So, when I turned 14 I decided to get a job. My mom is a caterer, and using my experience in her kitchen, I convinced a restaurant to hire me as a waitress, because I was very good at explaining types of food to people. What started out as a holiday job, turned into nearly four years of waitressing, training, managing and learning.

Fast forward.

Varsity. Needed cash for tequila. Oh, and petrol and stuff. So, I got a promo job. My many years of waitressing taught me how to talk to anyone and up-sell pretty much anything. Promos went well, but I wasn’t keen on the outfits. So, I upsold myself and ended up running the Cape Town branch of this Joburg-based promo company - sourcing staff, doing all their training, and overseeing events.

Fast forward.

First day on Twitter, I notice a little blog called Foodblog Cape Town, which had about 700 followers on Twitter and 300 on Facebook. I sent them an email, “ HI TEAM, PLEASE CAN I WORK FOR YOU FOR FREEEEEE? YOU DON’T HAVE TO PAY ME, I JUST WANT TO HELP”. After joining the team (not a team, just one lovely guy named Marvin) it took us two years to find ourselves, with plenty of money spent along the way to make it happen. Three years later and now we’ve gone national, with nearly 45,000 followers.

I work my ass off. My day job is in advertising. My night job: Foodblog(s), freelance writing, and my personal blog. I never sleep. But I take every single opportunity I can get my hands on. And when I don’t find one, I look for it. Sometimes I fail. Actually, often I do. But who cares, at least I tried. (This doesn’t include bike riding, which I tried once and immediately gave up).

The other day I did a call for writers for Foodblog Durban and Joburg. I got HUNDREDS of replies. But what I explained to each applicant, was that they would have to pay for their first few reviews, because I couldn't take the chance of organising them a meal with no proof of their competency. Just like I did all those years ago.

And guess what? Of the HUNDREDS of applicants, THREE agreed to buy their own meal. THREE. Really? Seriously? I was literally dressed up as an opportunity, dancing and waving my little opportunity arms around, asking to be taken. There was no passion, no desire, no excitement to be a part of something – just expectancy.

People aren’t willing to take a chance. To lose. To fail. And sadly, even to try.

Being a part of this Citroen campaign, to see who “steps out of line” most on Twitter, has been very interesting for me. Not because of the things I’ve read or seen, but because it’s actually taught me a lot about myself.

I’ve been stepping out of line since I was a little girl. And I dare you to do the same, too.

19/03/2014

I have a drug problem

And what I mean by that, is that I have a problem with drugs. A big one.

I’ve recently started working on a project that brings me into contact with a lot of homeless people. These people who I'd cross the road to avoid as I walked from my car to my office, people who I'd change lanes to dodge, people I'd ignore if they rang my bell – these people have suddenly become, well, people to me.

In working with them, I’ve heard their stories. And the stories they tell are richer, for lack of a better word, than those of many a published author. Life on the street is terrifying, and for most of them it was drugs that got them there.

Take Ryan*, estranged from his family after he lied to them, stole their money, sold their belongings to buy drugs and pay off drug debt. He’s been clean now for 6 months, but they want nothing to do with him. Or Wynand*, the ex-model who lost everything when coke became his everything. There’s also Sheila* and Carl*, a track marked couple, who want to go to rehab, but can’t afford it. And since Carl broke his leg and can't work, they've used up what they had saved.

Then there are the euphoric, but depressed crack-heads; a woman on mandrax trying to give you her baby; prostitutes so high on tik they can’t string a sentence together; the old men and women with minds whittled away to nothing by years of abuse.

Some of them were born into it. Addicted from birth, they stood no chance. I met a woman with a baby so stoned, he couldn’t open his eyes – just a limp mound on her back. But I'll say it again, for many, it was drugs that got them on the street in the first place.

Drugs mess people up. But still, every weekend, girls whip on their high-waisted bum shorts and lumo tops, and boys flex their muscles in their low-cut vests, and together they pop some MDMA or shnaff some coke because #YOLO.

I’m not going to tip-toe around this. Doing drugs is fucking stupid. Fucking irresponsible and fucking stupid. One bad buy and you end up with something that isn’t just the usual stuff from your dealer. You could be the next Ryan or Waynand or Sheila or Carl, or any one of the 7000 homeless people sleeping on our city’s street. 

And if someone has a problem with me calling them fucking stupid and fucking irresponsible, well honestly, it's not me who has the problem.

Add your voice to the "I have a drug problem" campaign, by sharing your opinion or a story about how drug abuse affects your life in Cape Town on Twitter, with the hashtag #ihaveadrugproblem. 

If you or someone you know needs help with substance abuse, phone the free 24hour helpline 
on 0800 435 748. For more info on the City of Cape Town Substance Abuse Campaign, click here.

*names have been changed.

11/03/2014

The First Kiss

In response to The First Kiss:





KayliVee films brings you... 


The First Kiss (how they actually go)

06/03/2014

Review of The Oscars 2014

Here we go! My insightful, thorough and considered views of the 86th Annual Academy Awards.


1. Lots of movies won Oscars!

2. Lots of actors and actresses won Oscars!

3. Leonardo Dicaprio was not one of them.

4. Leo is sad.

5. A movie about slaves made all the white people hate being white.

02/03/2014

A stolen day.

For those of you who don’t know, my darling dad passed away suddenly on the 30th of August 2013, after a very simple procedure went wrong. 

Anyway, back to today.

I feel robbed.

I had an idea in my mind that after six months I would have great perspective of some sort. Six months. It felt momentous, poignant. It felt like a milestone that if I could reach, I’d be ok.

But I’m not getting my six months, because dearest February doesn’t have a 30th.