Personally I detest email.
I receive on average 100 emails a day, many of which are irrelevant press releases and quickly deleted.
But still, the time and energy spent sifting through them could surely be better spent. On the most part PR agencies are trying their level best to get free publicity for their clients with varying degrees of merit.
But sometimes a real howler lands on my desk. This morning it was an email titled: ‘Eskom gives small businesses a boost’. I did a double take. Say whaaaat?
After almost a week of loadshedding for the umpteenth time, businesses big and small are cursing Eishkom more than ever.
Fin24 quoted Econometrix Chief Economist Azar Jammine who estimated that a week of rolling blackouts would cost SA 0.1% in economic growth. The South African quoted senior energy expert Chris Yelland, who estimated that load shedding costs the country around R1 billion per stage, per day.
The number of the stage represents how many billions of rand will be lost each day. This calculation was based on using the standard cost of 75 cents per kilowatt-hour and the average time the lights have been out for each individual loadshedding announcement (13 hours). Basically one day on stage six equals R6 billion lost.
Now is not the time to try and toot your own horn, Eskom. No one is interested (except perhaps the candlestick makers). The best thing you could do for business is simple: run Eskom efficiently.
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Thinking about all the damage this is doing to our economy can be really depressing, so I try focus on the good things. One, we don’t live in Zambia where daily power cuts have become the norm. I would like to know how Eskom thinks it has capacity to sell any power to Zambia though? Despite these worrying questions I choose to remain in a positive state of mind.
ALSO READ: #Perspective: The complexion for connection
This reminds me of Pollyanna’s ‘Glad Game’. “When you look for the bad, expecting it, you will get it” says Pollyanna in the 1913 novel by American author Eleanor H. Porter.
The movie was a childhood favourite and because we only had a handful of tapes at home I watched it countless times. Pollyanna had every reason to be negative. An orphan sent to live with her nasty aunt who consigns her to the attic, Pollyanna still manages to see the good in everything. Her unrelenting enthusiasm and joy begins to infect everyone she meets, her joy is contiguous.
The Glad Game consists of finding something to be glad about in every situation, no matter how bleak it may be. It originated one Christmas when Pollyanna, who was hoping for a doll in the missionary barrel, found only a pair of crutches inside. Making the game up on the spot, Pollyanna’s father taught her to look at the good side of things – in this case, to be glad about the crutches because she did not need to use them.
Due to the book’s fame, “Pollyanna” became a common nickname for someone who has an unfailingly optimistic outlook and a subconscious bias towards the positive is often described as ‘the Pollyanna principle’.
We asked the Courier’s readers what they did during loadshedding and I was impressed with the positivity. Many people spoke about how the hours of darkness forced families away from screens and – who knew – they actually enjoyed one another’s company!
• Tony Subramony: One of the so called ‘joys’ of load shedding is that it restores family communication. Use the time to spend with family. Break the silence.
• Tracy Louise Allan: Well one advantage is families and friends learn how to communicate all over again with no distractions of screens etc, we take time in actually talking to one another, playing cards etc and communicating like in the old days!
• Mary Salter: We cleaned out the clutter from the garage and re-arranged things a bit. All looking good now with lots of space for the new bakkie in 2020… yay!
• Jeevash Kumar Singh: Played 30 seconds with the family in candle light. Priceless!
So with that in mind, what do you have to be glad about?
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