On Fri, 19 Dec 2014 08:39:01 +0000, Stephen wrote:

> On 17/12/2014 20:31, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> On Wed, 17 Dec 2014 20:17:15 +0000, Stephen wrote:
>>
>>> Your ex-pat countrymen paint a picture that is not attractive of the
>>> SA way of life.
>>
>> It's not just ex-pats.  I've a friend who lives in Jo'berg, and she's
>> had her office broken into numerous times (and all of the equipment
>> stolen). There clearly are places that are not safe in SA, and you
>> can't count on the police to deal with such crimes effectively.  I'm
>> sure there are places where that's not the case, but I would also
>> hesitate to travel there right now.
> 
> 
> I would not mind, in fact I would like to visit SA. From what I have
> heard it is a beautiful place in most parts. I suppose that most of the
> South Africans I have met need to justify leaving their country and
> emphasise the darker* aspects of life there.

Well, my friend who lives there isn't looking to leave - she's very happy 
there.  The break-ins happened while she was off camping.

> I am not saying that security is not a problem especially if you are
> well off. I have lived and worked in some dodgy places but if you use a
> bit of common sense and respect. 

That often can help, but not always.  I know in one instance, those who 
robbed the place broke in while they were off camping, and they took 
*everything* - computers, software, etc.  Alarm system on the building 
was useless.

> You would need to be unlucky to run
> into trouble. A case in point is when I was stopped at a roadblock in
> Kingston Jamaica, by a machete wielding group of locals. Who politely
> asked for a donation to repair the road. “No problems, how much do you
> want?” I paid up and went on my way. Coming back I was stopped again. I
> blurted out that I had already paid on the way out of town (instantly
> regretting it btw). The reply was. “Sorry man, didn’t recognise you.”
> Right! How many dandelion headed white men did he see in a day? But
> there was respect on both sides. So everything was fine. I even left
> them laughing over trying to get money out of a Scotsman.
> I could go on. But will just finish with the last time I was nervous
> about my personal safety was in America. NM next to the Texas border. A
> discussion in a bar about incomers turned heated between two locals.
> Remembering the gun laws, I made my excuses and left. No offence
> intended but I felt out of my depth and thought it the better part of
> valour, to be somewhere else :-)

Oh, sure, the gun laws here in the US are *nuts*, and there are a lot of 
truly crazy people here who manage to build arsenals that go far beyond 
personal safety.

I was in Arizona about 15 years ago for the first time, and one of my 
coworkers (who lived there) said "if someone cuts you off on the road, 
just let it go - don't flip them off, don't lay into your horn - because 
you never know who's going to be armed and decide to shoot you for doing 
even that much."

Yet if you try to get any kind of even sensible dialog going about gun 
control, you get people saying incredibly stupid things like "if you take 
guns away, only criminals will have guns, because you can't stop the flow 
of guns" or even worse "someone who's determined will find a way.  
They'll use a knife if they have to."

Yeah, but how often is a knife-wielding lunatic going to take out a 
classroom of 45 students + teacher?  Answer:  Not bloody likely.

Jim




-- 
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and 
besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw

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