Whenever I am in a philosophical mood (usually about the middle of the second bottle ), I find myself wondering what I did to deserve drawing so many winning numbers in the lottery of life.
(The lottery of life is unlike the political lottery, where the winning tickets are all issued to “cadres“ long before the numbers are drawn. I once tried to become a cadre but failed the corruption exam.)
Among my prizes I include a circle of wonderful friends, a loving family, a home by the sea, the chance to learn interesting skills and visit exciting places, and the ability to pay my debts (eventually).
One of my most precious prizes in Life’s lottery has been a lifetime supply of calcium. While many of my contemporaries have had hip and shoulder replacements and wear dentures, I have the teeth and hip-bones that came with the original deal.
This is mainly because I grew up in the Karoo (another winning ticket), where we used borehole water which was rich in calcium salts. Nothing like a regular dollop of calcium to build bonny bones.
Another contributing factor was a vaccine. The pandemic of the period was poliomyelitis — polio. We were used to seeing kids hobbling about in leg callipers until the Salk vaccine was developed.
Today, we hardly even remember when we last heard anything about polio.
It was vaccinated into extinction. The same goes for smallpox and diphtheria. Vaccinated right out of human memory. Not many people have even heard of smallpox or diphtheria today.
We are certainly well informed about the progress of the coronavirus pandemic. We have daily reports of the number of new cases, the number of hospitalisations and the number of deaths from Covid-19. We are also told that more than 99% of Covid-19 deaths are of unvaccinated people.
There’s been a great deal of debate about the issuing of Covid “passports.” It might be safer to issue badges for the unvaccinated. They could spread the warning: “Danger! Toxic human. Do not approach within breathing distance.”
In the meantime, many of the vaccination centres stand empty. We, humans, are an interesting species.
I think I’ll finish that second bottle now.
Last Laugh:
OVERHEARD: “I know I’m getting old, but at least I can still tie my own shoelaces, although I do need to lie down and rest for a while afterwards.”
* "Tavern of the Seas" is a column written in the Cape Argus by David Biggs. Biggs can be contacted at [email protected]
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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