Fidler in the Hood: How to make friends and influence people

GREETINGS, one and all. Back to the daily grind – if doing nothing really is our daily grind. Nice work if you can get it. Actually, your scribe did something he hasn’t done in a long time the other day – cut the grass at home and nearly died in the attempt! It was almost like the end of the world when the garden services phoned to say they couldn’t make it, but not a train smash, the CO was told, because it was ‘Rob to the rescue’. The moral of the story: count your blessings, enjoy life and the perks on offer here.

ALSO READ : Fidler in the Hood: The grass is greener on the other side

Ever been influenced?

There seems to be a never-ending stream of visitors to our sleepy shores. One visitor (whose profession, we were told, quite assuredly, was ‘an influencer’. No kidding. Recently, at a popular retail store there was a display of bright pink T-shirts in the women’s section, with the lettering ‘Influencer’ on the front, so it made sense that being an ‘influencer’ really was the way to go if looking for a real job. Throwing the idea at the CO to see if she thought that your scribe could influence anyone, she responded “I doubt it, you can’t even get local council to cut the grass in Uvongo!” She does have a way with words.

Never smile at a crocodile

However, some ‘real people’ did stop over en route to the Cape. Peter and Sheila Watson live in the Tongaat area on the North Coast and for the last 35 years they have made a living ‘farming’ African crocodiles and have about 6 000 of these creatures.

The Watsons were among the CO’s very first friends when she arrived in Zambia in 1965 and the friendship has continued ever since.

Mind you, breeding thousands of crocodiles is not exactly a fun idea to make a pretty penny. For the Watsons, the business has taken them to many places around the world, including the Middle East, Canada, USA and Central America, to setting up crocodile farming projects. Peter was originally in the oil business in Zambia, but corporate life was just not for him, so he became the original ‘Crocodile Dundee’ many moons ago. Sheila, his good wife for over half a century, was one of the original ‘VC-10’ sunshine nurses who went out to Kitwe on contract for a couple of years. Somehow, Sheila never made it back to her hometown of Sydney, NSW, Australia, and has made Africa her home with Peter (less a couple of fingers), three children, plus several thousand crocodiles.

Dancing with wolves

Besides crocodiles, the Watsons keep a couple of wolves as pets, a number of man-eating parrots – a real ‘Out of Africa’ house, complete with a moat around the property. When asked if they have ever had any problems living in a fairly isolated area, “Nothing we haven’t been able to handle,” was the wry reply. Sheila still retains her Aussie sense of humour – she claims she could ‘make Peter disappear, no questions asked, if he ever stepped out of line’, by feeding his body to the crocs; telling anyone who may listen that Peter had run off with someone else. No one would ever be the wiser! Fortunately, that problem has never arisen; they have safely negotiated the first hurdle of 50 years’ married life together.

Social calendar

Ramsgate Lions will be holding their quiz night this coming Friday, followed by Arnie and Sandy Hofman’s popular ‘Guinea pig’ dinner get-together on Saturday evening. The diet will definitely start next week.

‘Jolson Sings Again’

Liz Curran reports that the screening of ‘The Jolson Story” was fabulously successful, with the cinema club hosting more than 100 people at the show – something of a record. Memories came flooding back for those movie-goers who saw the movie when it was it was first released in 1946, an age when this all-time great music delighted audiences worldwide. This includes yours truly, who was taken to see the movie in good old Blackpool as a child. Larry Parks, who played Al Jolson in the film, is probably best remembered for his role of ‘Jolie’, for which he received an Academy Award. Sadly, his Hollywood film career came to an abrupt halt in 1951 when he was banned from making any more movies – a victim of the McCarthy witch-hunt era. Parks died in 1975, but will always be remembered by his fans, testament to his popularity even today. Liz invites everyone to the sequel ‘Jolson Sings Again’ (1949) which will be screened at the Margate Retirement Village’s Ronnie Baker Hall this Sunday (27th) at 2.30pm at a cost of R5 per person. In the words of Al Jolson himself “Folks, you ain’t heard nothing yet!” See you, Rob.

HAVE YOUR SAY

Like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram

For news straight to your phone, add us on WhatsApp 082 421 6033