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LOCKDOWN IN MY HOOD
LOCKDOWN IN MY HOOD
This story took place somewhere in Chitungwiza Zimbabwe.
Tyres screeching,as if it's The Fast and Furious.Hooters honking resembling the celebrations of the wedding.People running on the side road,it's like Temple run,but no,wait,it can't be temple run.These people are not running away from the giant beast.Subway Surfers? Yes its like subway surfers the game.
Why do I say so? The story begins in this way......
On a beautiful morning,working up preparing to go work as usual,I tune in to the FM radion on my smartphone for the 6 am news.I check the time and it's 15 minutes before the hour of 6.The bulletin is 15 minutes away so i log in on my face book account.This is just a routine i do just to check the information about the deadly virus which has hit the world.As i scroll down the news feed its always about the virus,sadly i keep on seing the number of lives it has taken,every minute of the updates there's hundreds,thousands of people who have succumbed to the deadly virus.If the walls that protect the heart were translucent,everyone would have seen how much tears fell from my bleeding heart.Innocent souls vanishing at an accelerating speed world wide.
Well,this is just in Europe though,according to the statistics its killing the European inhabitants more.It brings me some relief.For a moment i smile,smiling not because i enjoy our European friends dying,this is not a movie by the way.I smile because Im an African and the virus has'nt hit African nations at a greater extend except for South Africa with a number of cases that have been recorded and by the analysis it shows that the affected people had travelled abroad.
As i continue scrolling down,i hear drum beats of the news bulletin.I pause for a while trying to listen attentively.I aways like listening to the news though i don't seriously take some things that are said,sport is my favorite,but during these times where the virus is breaking the news,i just have to listen to every word. "....His excelency,the head of states has put the country on a 21 day lockdown starting on the 31st March 2020...." What? Lockdown? I get puzzled for a moment.Something pops in my mind,i remember a few days ago there were some cases which were reported with one controversial death. Well, yeah, good move Mr President as it is a way to curb the spread of the virus,staying safe at home is the remedy.Now, with our current nitty gritties of the economic situation in our country what is going to happen?
Two days before the "dooms day,"People from all walks of life were busy preparing for the 21 days of self isolation.21 days lockdown meant staying at home for everyone hence no shops or vendors had to be seen selling staff.People were buying food in bulk,it made me reminise the festive season,Christmas.The shoving and hoving at the market places imitated a colony of ants.Funny though,I just wondered,on the news we were informed to mantain a distance of a meter apart from the other person.Who cared about it anyway? Bulk buying was the order of the day.
A day before the lockdown I had planned some activities to do whilst at home in my single room alone,the lockdown had come as a blessing in disguise for me as i had to get more time to do my online trading staff.It was a tiresome day at work,i was so exhausted to the extend that my feet became sore,i had spent the whole day standing at work,there was no time to take a seat. Just before i took a nap,a whatsapp message popped up on my screen,"Tomorrow we are selling at the price of...." Tomorrow? I got puffed.It was a message sent in the group from my boss telling us to go to work the next day which was day one of the lockdown of course."Did my boss forgot that tomorrow is the first day of lockdown? I asked myself.The moment i tried to reply the message trying to remind him that its "D" day tomorrow,five of my fellow work mates had already aproved the new selling prices and it was an approval that they are going to work."Well lemme just hold it,what would i be doing the whole day here any way? Facing the four walls of my room the whole day,no,i cant.I can do online trading after work though,besides,i love my job." I deleted the sentence i had written and replaced it with,"noted."
"Going into an ambush" i got out of the house,the outside world was quiet like the graveyard,it was as if people had forgoten to wake up.I got out of the gate,the road was clear,the very busy road with cars,kombis,buses and lorries had became isolated,well i guess it was now breathing fresh air.As i was admiring the beauty of the road with no vehicles,i then remembered that i needed to go to work."Damn!" There's no transport to ferry me to work,oh gosh!" I shook my head. What else should i have done,im a pedestrian by the way,a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.I did'nt know how many miles i had to walk but i began my journey with that step.Within 45 minutes i had ranked at work.Do you want to know what happened in the road? Well nothing happened,the journey felt like i was alone in the world,it was peaceful though. I walked freely till i reached my work place.Since it was the first day of the lockdown,people were so obedient and followed the call of the President to stay at home though social media was blasting with negativities,some calling it "house arrest".A bit of truth in it because it was like people had been given a sentence of house arrest, the outside world was like people had been locked in prison cells.After work going back home,the mood was a bit different from the morning scenario.A few people were strolling on the side road,a few vehicle passing.What caught my attention intrestingly,were the people inside their house premises.Like a dog standing behind the gate waiting eagerly for his master to come back,so it was with the people casting their eyes to the road.Should i say these guys are the scared brethren or they are the law abiding citizens? What i know from my own analysis,these people had fear,they wished to get out of the yard but fear dragged them back.Were they scared of the virus? Only God knows.I reached home without any infringements.I had heard on the news that the Police had to be deployed in the streets to ensure no one was breaking the law.Home sweet home,"well,what an intresting day,"i washed my hands with a hand sanitizer,these are precautionary measures anyway,"practice good health,stay safe,stay at home...bla bla bla" All thanks to the advertisers on the radio.
The second day of the lockdown seemed a bit different,If i say bit i will be lying,there was a huge differece.This time around i won't dwell much on me waking up,preparing to go to work and staff and i will skip to day 6 of the lockdown.My theses begins at the periods of after work,this is where i see subway surfers hitting coins running for glory."Glory?" Yes, correct Glory.Staying indoors the whole day without seing your mates is not an easy thing.It was as if people had broken the law.On the contrary they had broken the law by the way.It was business as usual people had gone out of their houses going out to the market places,vendors had already registered for supper time goodies.Since i was closing early at my work place,that was the police directive by the way,every essential operating outlet had to be closed by 3 P.M.It gave me some added advantage since i had to gain some extra money.The poor economy made us hustle for more money just to balance off our living standards.Dropping my Uniform,engaging in my casual wear,i hit the road and went to see my hustle mates,the ghetto youths.Do you wanna hear the ghetto youths hustles,well yeah you know,the economic situation in our country has made most youths Bereau de Changers.That is how we get some extra money,some of my fellow mates,its what they do to make a living."heyy! The boss is here" That is what my mates call me,i don't know how that name came about."oh yes! The boss has arrived" they greet me with "big ups" with their voices at peak.Our "work place" is at the corner of the road at a T junction,opposite a famous grocery tuck shop where vendors sit infront selling their staff.At the back of us,the other direction,there are the big shops,bars and night clubs,a lot of vendors geographicaly sited their tables there,that is the C.B.D."How was your day mate" One of my closest friend greets with enthusiasm. "Well nothing much mate,it was not that busy,its lockdown and people are taking precautionary measures in their homes.Im surprised here its business as usual,aren't they afraid of the virus? I look at him and he grins,my other friends join in scoffing a mockery laugh. One of them replies," if you were afraid of the virus you wouldn't be here too" They continue laughing and i just join the laughing ceremony."What rate are we selling with today?" I break the laughing moments.This is a question we ask everyday as we fork out money from our pocket.Its not i and my friends only that ask this question,i think everyone in this country asks this same question."It's...." Before one of my friends finishes the answer,we hear whistles,the type of whistle is not just a normal whistle.It is that type of whistle where everyone surrounding that area is being notified that something bad or alarming is happening.We look back at the big shops where the sound of the whistles is coming from,huge crowds of people running toward our direction,some of the vendors on the shops pavements packing their items hurriedly,a few tomatoes drop,but who cares about picking them up,it's "on your marks get set go" time.For a moment i stand still trying to figure out what realy is happening,why are peaple running and what are they running away from? "Police! It's the Police! I hear voice screaming."Police? What is the police doing at this time,it's some minutes after 6 pm,what do they want?" Oh wait a second,"It's the POLICE!" I remember the police enforcement statement."Guys its the Po...." I look around to notify my friends.Alas! I was standing there alone,i dont know how they vanished,if it was a movie i would say they were playing halloween prank on me.Huge crowds of people increased their numbers running toward me,they continued screaming.What else would i have done other than to run.I had broken the law so i had to run away.
Whilst joining the run away crowd,tires of cars were screeching,hooters honking,people were running on the side of the road at the speed of "The Flash",i dont know which direction i took,i was just following the crowd,running for my life."Hop in fast!" One of my friends has a car,he shouted again "fast!" I came to a halt and quickly jumped in the car."I almost lost my heart through the mouth out there" i caughed breathing heavily."Heyy mate you wanted to be ninja warrior out there,you will get beaten by the police". One of my naughty friends was also in the car,he said it in a mocking manner.As we were chit chatting,we looked backward people were still running,at back there was another car,at the back of it there was another,it was like the Presidential motorcade.I could hardly see the police who people claimed that there was.What puzzled me was that about 200 meters of driving from where i was picked up,people were still running at full speed as if the police were closer and were still screaming "police!" Hahaha crazy indeed.I slid down the window and shouted to one girl who was running as if she was competing with Fraser Williams at the olympics,"hey sister, where is the police?" I said it in a laughing manner."They are coming" she replied she never looked at my face neither did she looked back to see whether the police were realy coming.I laughed and closed the window.
After a while of driving,the driver had to reduce the speed,he took a left turn to the other road,that road had to take us back to our work place,the "danger zone"."Are you crazy,you are taking us back to the police?" I had to shout at him with a nervous voice. "What do you know Mr Boss,youspent a few days without coming here,you were busy fantasizing with your hand at home while....." I had to slap him on the shoulder before he finished the sentence,he is naughtiest guy amongst us."Just go straight to the point will you? I said it with a bossy voice of course." The police have gone mate,they just come to dismiss people to their homes,its lockdown remember,everyone should be in their homes." Oh wow,what a relief,i hate the police,they can beat you for no reason especialy in these times where we are being disobedient. Everyone in the car laughed.
Well,it came to my knowledge that the police had came to fulfill their duties,mantaining order during the lockdown.But in civillian society disorder is the order of the day.They cannot stay in homes all day doing nothing most of all,without doing any hustles,they need to put food on the table by the way and the best way to do it is by playing the cat and mouse game with the police,once the police arrive,we run away vendors carrying their staff.Once the police disbursed people went back to their selling points and customers return to buy food.Its the ghetto,thats how we survive- hand to mouth.It also puzzled me that people are not afraid of the virus rather the the police instead.We have to stay safe,we try to but situations in our homes make us break the law,some rules are meant to be broken anyway,not deliberately though.People had to conduct in this "Subway Surfers" game.Yes running away from the police felt like a game,we just have to keep on running till level "21."
NOTE: This story was not written to incite negativities in peoples minds to go against the Lockdown petitions,its a true story.People should stay safe in any way possible,Corona Virus is real and lets fight it by taking the precautionary measures stated by our governments.#Stay safe,Stop the spread,Heal the world.ONE LOVE!
Story by Macdonald Pagiwa
macdonaldpagiwa@gmail.com
This story took place somewhere in Chitungwiza Zimbabwe.
Tyres screeching,as if it's The Fast and Furious.Hooters honking resembling the celebrations of the wedding.People running on the side road,it's like Temple run,but no,wait,it can't be temple run.These people are not running away from the giant beast.Subway Surfers? Yes its like subway surfers the game.
Why do I say so? The story begins in this way......
On a beautiful morning,working up preparing to go work as usual,I tune in to the FM radion on my smartphone for the 6 am news.I check the time and it's 15 minutes before the hour of 6.The bulletin is 15 minutes away so i log in on my face book account.This is just a routine i do just to check the information about the deadly virus which has hit the world.As i scroll down the news feed its always about the virus,sadly i keep on seing the number of lives it has taken,every minute of the updates there's hundreds,thousands of people who have succumbed to the deadly virus.If the walls that protect the heart were translucent,everyone would have seen how much tears fell from my bleeding heart.Innocent souls vanishing at an accelerating speed world wide.
Well,this is just in Europe though,according to the statistics its killing the European inhabitants more.It brings me some relief.For a moment i smile,smiling not because i enjoy our European friends dying,this is not a movie by the way.I smile because Im an African and the virus has'nt hit African nations at a greater extend except for South Africa with a number of cases that have been recorded and by the analysis it shows that the affected people had travelled abroad.
As i continue scrolling down,i hear drum beats of the news bulletin.I pause for a while trying to listen attentively.I aways like listening to the news though i don't seriously take some things that are said,sport is my favorite,but during these times where the virus is breaking the news,i just have to listen to every word. "....His excelency,the head of states has put the country on a 21 day lockdown starting on the 31st March 2020...." What? Lockdown? I get puzzled for a moment.Something pops in my mind,i remember a few days ago there were some cases which were reported with one controversial death. Well, yeah, good move Mr President as it is a way to curb the spread of the virus,staying safe at home is the remedy.Now, with our current nitty gritties of the economic situation in our country what is going to happen?
Two days before the "dooms day,"People from all walks of life were busy preparing for the 21 days of self isolation.21 days lockdown meant staying at home for everyone hence no shops or vendors had to be seen selling staff.People were buying food in bulk,it made me reminise the festive season,Christmas.The shoving and hoving at the market places imitated a colony of ants.Funny though,I just wondered,on the news we were informed to mantain a distance of a meter apart from the other person.Who cared about it anyway? Bulk buying was the order of the day.
A day before the lockdown I had planned some activities to do whilst at home in my single room alone,the lockdown had come as a blessing in disguise for me as i had to get more time to do my online trading staff.It was a tiresome day at work,i was so exhausted to the extend that my feet became sore,i had spent the whole day standing at work,there was no time to take a seat. Just before i took a nap,a whatsapp message popped up on my screen,"Tomorrow we are selling at the price of...." Tomorrow? I got puffed.It was a message sent in the group from my boss telling us to go to work the next day which was day one of the lockdown of course."Did my boss forgot that tomorrow is the first day of lockdown? I asked myself.The moment i tried to reply the message trying to remind him that its "D" day tomorrow,five of my fellow work mates had already aproved the new selling prices and it was an approval that they are going to work."Well lemme just hold it,what would i be doing the whole day here any way? Facing the four walls of my room the whole day,no,i cant.I can do online trading after work though,besides,i love my job." I deleted the sentence i had written and replaced it with,"noted."
"Going into an ambush" i got out of the house,the outside world was quiet like the graveyard,it was as if people had forgoten to wake up.I got out of the gate,the road was clear,the very busy road with cars,kombis,buses and lorries had became isolated,well i guess it was now breathing fresh air.As i was admiring the beauty of the road with no vehicles,i then remembered that i needed to go to work."Damn!" There's no transport to ferry me to work,oh gosh!" I shook my head. What else should i have done,im a pedestrian by the way,a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.I did'nt know how many miles i had to walk but i began my journey with that step.Within 45 minutes i had ranked at work.Do you want to know what happened in the road? Well nothing happened,the journey felt like i was alone in the world,it was peaceful though. I walked freely till i reached my work place.Since it was the first day of the lockdown,people were so obedient and followed the call of the President to stay at home though social media was blasting with negativities,some calling it "house arrest".A bit of truth in it because it was like people had been given a sentence of house arrest, the outside world was like people had been locked in prison cells.After work going back home,the mood was a bit different from the morning scenario.A few people were strolling on the side road,a few vehicle passing.What caught my attention intrestingly,were the people inside their house premises.Like a dog standing behind the gate waiting eagerly for his master to come back,so it was with the people casting their eyes to the road.Should i say these guys are the scared brethren or they are the law abiding citizens? What i know from my own analysis,these people had fear,they wished to get out of the yard but fear dragged them back.Were they scared of the virus? Only God knows.I reached home without any infringements.I had heard on the news that the Police had to be deployed in the streets to ensure no one was breaking the law.Home sweet home,"well,what an intresting day,"i washed my hands with a hand sanitizer,these are precautionary measures anyway,"practice good health,stay safe,stay at home...bla bla bla" All thanks to the advertisers on the radio.
The second day of the lockdown seemed a bit different,If i say bit i will be lying,there was a huge differece.This time around i won't dwell much on me waking up,preparing to go to work and staff and i will skip to day 6 of the lockdown.My theses begins at the periods of after work,this is where i see subway surfers hitting coins running for glory."Glory?" Yes, correct Glory.Staying indoors the whole day without seing your mates is not an easy thing.It was as if people had broken the law.On the contrary they had broken the law by the way.It was business as usual people had gone out of their houses going out to the market places,vendors had already registered for supper time goodies.Since i was closing early at my work place,that was the police directive by the way,every essential operating outlet had to be closed by 3 P.M.It gave me some added advantage since i had to gain some extra money.The poor economy made us hustle for more money just to balance off our living standards.Dropping my Uniform,engaging in my casual wear,i hit the road and went to see my hustle mates,the ghetto youths.Do you wanna hear the ghetto youths hustles,well yeah you know,the economic situation in our country has made most youths Bereau de Changers.That is how we get some extra money,some of my fellow mates,its what they do to make a living."heyy! The boss is here" That is what my mates call me,i don't know how that name came about."oh yes! The boss has arrived" they greet me with "big ups" with their voices at peak.Our "work place" is at the corner of the road at a T junction,opposite a famous grocery tuck shop where vendors sit infront selling their staff.At the back of us,the other direction,there are the big shops,bars and night clubs,a lot of vendors geographicaly sited their tables there,that is the C.B.D."How was your day mate" One of my closest friend greets with enthusiasm. "Well nothing much mate,it was not that busy,its lockdown and people are taking precautionary measures in their homes.Im surprised here its business as usual,aren't they afraid of the virus? I look at him and he grins,my other friends join in scoffing a mockery laugh. One of them replies," if you were afraid of the virus you wouldn't be here too" They continue laughing and i just join the laughing ceremony."What rate are we selling with today?" I break the laughing moments.This is a question we ask everyday as we fork out money from our pocket.Its not i and my friends only that ask this question,i think everyone in this country asks this same question."It's...." Before one of my friends finishes the answer,we hear whistles,the type of whistle is not just a normal whistle.It is that type of whistle where everyone surrounding that area is being notified that something bad or alarming is happening.We look back at the big shops where the sound of the whistles is coming from,huge crowds of people running toward our direction,some of the vendors on the shops pavements packing their items hurriedly,a few tomatoes drop,but who cares about picking them up,it's "on your marks get set go" time.For a moment i stand still trying to figure out what realy is happening,why are peaple running and what are they running away from? "Police! It's the Police! I hear voice screaming."Police? What is the police doing at this time,it's some minutes after 6 pm,what do they want?" Oh wait a second,"It's the POLICE!" I remember the police enforcement statement."Guys its the Po...." I look around to notify my friends.Alas! I was standing there alone,i dont know how they vanished,if it was a movie i would say they were playing halloween prank on me.Huge crowds of people increased their numbers running toward me,they continued screaming.What else would i have done other than to run.I had broken the law so i had to run away.
Whilst joining the run away crowd,tires of cars were screeching,hooters honking,people were running on the side of the road at the speed of "The Flash",i dont know which direction i took,i was just following the crowd,running for my life."Hop in fast!" One of my friends has a car,he shouted again "fast!" I came to a halt and quickly jumped in the car."I almost lost my heart through the mouth out there" i caughed breathing heavily."Heyy mate you wanted to be ninja warrior out there,you will get beaten by the police". One of my naughty friends was also in the car,he said it in a mocking manner.As we were chit chatting,we looked backward people were still running,at back there was another car,at the back of it there was another,it was like the Presidential motorcade.I could hardly see the police who people claimed that there was.What puzzled me was that about 200 meters of driving from where i was picked up,people were still running at full speed as if the police were closer and were still screaming "police!" Hahaha crazy indeed.I slid down the window and shouted to one girl who was running as if she was competing with Fraser Williams at the olympics,"hey sister, where is the police?" I said it in a laughing manner."They are coming" she replied she never looked at my face neither did she looked back to see whether the police were realy coming.I laughed and closed the window.
After a while of driving,the driver had to reduce the speed,he took a left turn to the other road,that road had to take us back to our work place,the "danger zone"."Are you crazy,you are taking us back to the police?" I had to shout at him with a nervous voice. "What do you know Mr Boss,youspent a few days without coming here,you were busy fantasizing with your hand at home while....." I had to slap him on the shoulder before he finished the sentence,he is naughtiest guy amongst us."Just go straight to the point will you? I said it with a bossy voice of course." The police have gone mate,they just come to dismiss people to their homes,its lockdown remember,everyone should be in their homes." Oh wow,what a relief,i hate the police,they can beat you for no reason especialy in these times where we are being disobedient. Everyone in the car laughed.
Well,it came to my knowledge that the police had came to fulfill their duties,mantaining order during the lockdown.But in civillian society disorder is the order of the day.They cannot stay in homes all day doing nothing most of all,without doing any hustles,they need to put food on the table by the way and the best way to do it is by playing the cat and mouse game with the police,once the police arrive,we run away vendors carrying their staff.Once the police disbursed people went back to their selling points and customers return to buy food.Its the ghetto,thats how we survive- hand to mouth.It also puzzled me that people are not afraid of the virus rather the the police instead.We have to stay safe,we try to but situations in our homes make us break the law,some rules are meant to be broken anyway,not deliberately though.People had to conduct in this "Subway Surfers" game.Yes running away from the police felt like a game,we just have to keep on running till level "21."
NOTE: This story was not written to incite negativities in peoples minds to go against the Lockdown petitions,its a true story.People should stay safe in any way possible,Corona Virus is real and lets fight it by taking the precautionary measures stated by our governments.#Stay safe,Stop the spread,Heal the world.ONE LOVE!
Story by Macdonald Pagiwa
macdonaldpagiwa@gmail.com
