#SoCS : Card

Write about “card” says the #SoCS challenge for this weekend.

Off goes my mind. Racing as always. Birthday card, Christmas card, identity card, bank card, memory card, playing card, betting card, race card….so many options. I come to a screeching halt. One card currently trumps many others. It has the ability to spread hatred, wreak havoc.

It is bouted about in our beautiful country, South Africa, on a daily basis.  The race card. Not a thing to do with a betting race. Nothing too bet on here. No horses, dogs, frogs, fleas.

This is a card flashed every time a political point needs to be scored. No one wins. Only losers. Loss of co-operation, loss of respect, loss all around.  I believe in the mighty USA calls theirs the trump card.

This card is not new.  You would think that lessons from the past are worth remembering and giving some thought. No Sirree!

What is sad, is that this card is played whenever a political agenda needs to be served. Whenever a person is called out for incompetence, corruption, injustice, someone from another race group is called out as being the cause of the problem.  Sad indeed.

Instead of finding common ground and working together to the betterment of all, people are excluded, baited, diminished to the extent that nothing moves forward, or so social media leads us to believe.  Our country is approachin a general election set for 2019. Man, the race card is being played in full force.

The main players are known as the verbose political few. They do not speak, they do not converse. They spit and spew. It is not a card game I wish to indulge in. The agenda is too awful for words. The baiters create a narrative to fool a poverty stricken majority to serve a end game that lines the pockets of the noisemakers. The poor after an election will remain poor. The winners of said elections ride off in their luxury chariots, only to return when the next vote is needed.

I was recently drawn into the race card game. A client who, with her freedom and wealth, which by the way I totally believe she deserves, was indecisive about what exactly she wanted to buy from my shop. Her indecision led to protracted discussions and changing of mind every other week. All of six months.

Long story short, when crunch time came and the goods which she had paid for at the beginning, was now not to her liking and she realised that she was the cause of her own problems, she played the race card. I was a “white racist rubbish.”

I walked away, not willing to be drawn into her frustration and anger.  She has subsequently apologised and the transaction was eventually concluded. Will we become friends? I dare say not, but I accepted the apology nonetheless.

Why? Because I believe that we are born to stand in the place where we are. We are here to care for one thing only, our souls.

Tracy Chapman sings my mantra: “All that you’ve got is your soul.” That is my card game. I seek to see other souls, understand and care for the person. Not their beliefs, politics, gender or whatever. Just another soul on a journey. Our circumstances may differ, but the end game is the same.

Click the following link to find all the participants’ posts linked in the comment section, and join in! It’s fun!

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Oct. 6/18