One of my favourite songs of all time is I Wonder. It’s a classic by Rodriguez, who still enjoys cult status in South Africa.
For those who don’t know, Rodriguez wonders about how many times you’ve been had and how many plans have gone bad. He also wonders about the tears in children’s eyes and other profound issues.
Like Rodriguez, I’m also a wonderer. But I wonder about very different things.
I wonder if unemployed people are as frustrated as the working class during this lockdown. How profoundly does it affect the about 40% of the working class who are professionally unemployed?
Isn’t every day just another day at home for them?
And I wonder about the person in Malaysia who released a series of online posters telling women how to keep their men happy during the Covid-19 lockdown. Titled “Household Happiness”, the tips, posted on Facebook and Instagram, included giggling coyly instead of nagging, not allowing your appearance to slip and making sure the home is clean.
If it was a man responsible, I’d love to interview his wife, because I wonder how she feels about it?
But then again, I can’t help wondering if it wasn’t a woman who came up with that brainwave.
I also wonder about some of the tips to keep busy. How many people out there would really want to build their own metal detector and spend the next week examining every square millimetre of their garden?
The chances of finding anything of value must be smaller than winning the lottery. And if you really want to spend that much time digging up your garden, why not start a vegetable garden? Better still, why not plant an indigenous shrub that is guaranteed to keep your spirit high?
Of course, I also wonder what happens when a president surrounds himself with clowns. Can he then be anything but a ringmaster in a circus?
While all these issues pose very interesting questions, I must agree with the brilliant Rodriguez: I wonder, but I don’t really want to know.
For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.