A thousand words of nothing

A thousand words of nothing

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• The only time I wish I was in Zimbabwe

• Tribal hang-ups must cease

• A nation locked in negativism

• Zimbabwe's scattered marriages

• Now recruiting: traditional healers and prophets

• The double life of exiled Zimbabweans

By Norah Spie

THIS will go down in history as the week when Norah Spie wrote about nothing.

Is it possible to use a thousand words of nothing?

It is easier to talk about nothing than to write about nothing, I think.

So what makes a person like me end up with nothing to say when there is an endless list of things to be said? It could simply mean I have gone brain-dead and can't think of anything at all or it could be a useless challenge which has no point really.

In this case it is some kind of protest. Seeing this is the norm that when one has a problem with something they tend to organise a demonstration or boycott services, this is my one-man protest against the constant abuse journalists and other well-known people get from the public.

If your child fails in school, some parents blame the teacher. If you are unwell and you don't seem to get better, some of you will blame the doctor. There is always someone or something to blame for anything that goes wrong. But if you stop and take a minute then at times the fault could be within you.

There is a danger of taking drastic action without analysing the consequences first, but I am starting to think that our society is full of people who just talk the talk but what we need is people who walk the walk.

There is an increasing number of us who actually think that being a Zimbabwean means we ought to have the same opinions. They easily get upset when a new way of thinking is raised. A way they don't consider 'Zimbabwean'.

Because we have been ruled under an iron fist for a long time, this has obviously blunted our thinking. The same people who shout about human rights abuses are the same people who are quick to deny another person their right to freedom of speech mainly because they do not agree with the points raised. The world is becoming more and more of a global village which means identities are changing and individuals are offered with other options and lifestyles.

I was speaking to a colleague who works for a newspaper in Harare about how hard it is to write lifestyle issues for such a diverse audience. Gone are the days when Zimbabweans were mainly found in Zimbabwe. Now we are all over the world. Issues affecting those in Africa differ greatly from those affecting people in Asia- Pacific.

For example if I wanted to write about eating healthy and staying fit, this could be irrelevant or even insulting to someone who does not know where their next meal is going to come from. How can I advise my readers in America to stay away from the $1 eat-as-much-as-you-can when my other reader in Johannesburg hasn't eaten the whole day?

The challenge is to balance the two extremes. And if you try to be humorous that can back-fire because some one-dimensional people will not see it as a joke and then there is friction and the name-calling begins and some even accuse you of ruining their lives because you wrote about how hard it CAN be to move back home.

Politics and the economy are probably the two main things that we can all relate to. We all want to see the our country up and running smoothly. At the same time, we can't just dwell on that all the time. Variety is the spice of life. Every aspect of a newspaper has a big part to play.

One could under-estimate the cartoonist until you open a newspaper and find no cartoon. Media professionals have a massive and important role to play in a society. Some abuse that power and some are abused. How many journalists have lost their lives trying to bring you the latest news? How many have been tortured while you sit in the comfort of your home expecting more fresh headlines the next day?

Yes, it is the career we chose for ourselves, so should a soldier not complain if they got hurt in a battle? But we are also humans who have the same rights as you, who deserve the same respect. Most media personalities have sacrificed their lives so that you can get to know the truth, so you could be entertained.

There are radio stations, newpapers and magazines that work voluntarily just to bring you the variety you need. And yet these people are verbally abused left, right and centre in the very forums that they have created for you to discuss matters that could improve our lives as Zimbabweans.

Leaders and people in influencial positions should be criticised or else they end up with absolute power and big heads. However, this can only benefit both parties if it is done in a constructive manner. Remember how it is said Zimbabweans are good at pulling each other down?

I believe we can turn it round and start to encourage one another for it only benefits us at the end of the day. Maybe it is time to remove the rotten apples out of the basket before they spoil the good ones.

Norah Spie's new weekly column appears here every Wednesday. You can e-mail her at n_spie@hotmail.com or visit her website www.norahspie.com

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