The grass is not always greener on the other side...
About 3 months ago I started my new job, I went from being Cape Town's most flamboyant cab driver to being Cape Town's most flamboyant cab driver at a rival company. I've never been a fan of the toi-toi, dancing in the street to demonstrate one's dissatisfaction with one's work situation seems a bit defeat-the-purpose-esque to me so after a few months of being really unhappy for various reasons at my previous place of employment I decided to put my sanity before the money I and moved on, but not before an indulgent week of laying in bed and doing nothing (if you can calling watching vast amounts of television and eating vast amounts of luxuries nothing).
I remembered running into an ex colleague of mine (Neil) in the Green Point, the brotha was as relaxed as I'd never seen him before, this all due to the new company he worked for so after my "week off" I gave the company a call and was told to report for duty the next day. At 06h15 the next morning I arrived at my new job (45 minutes early), went through a brief interview process then went for a driving assessment which I of course passed with flying colours. From there I was assigned a the donkey Toyota Avanza of the fleet and my first day commenced.
I met one or two of my colleagues that day but because I made the decision beforehand not to get to know anyone or allow anyone to get to know me (I did not want to become emotionally attached to this company) I kept to myself and did whatever work I was supposed to do.
The change of pace from Formula 1 racing to glacial was excruciating, the cut in salary was immediately felt and I missed my now ex-colleagues at Rikkis, but my stress levels dropped to next-to-nothing and now I had more time to concentrate on my writing and stand up comedy performances.
Finally after about two weeks I was assigned my permanent car (okay so I did some manipulating) and believe it or not I'm in love with her: a 2010 Corolla. She has about as much character as a bowl of rice, she doesn't complain unless driver and front passenger are not wearing their seatbelts and parallel parking is an absolute nightmare but that doesn't matter since she's proved to me numerous times that she has my back. I held a little competition amongst my bbm contacts to find a name for her and my friend Craig suggested Zandra, a name that somehow works and ever since then the adventures Zandra and I have had together should keep my various audiences entertained for days!
Yes I do miss my previous job with all its drama and really miss the fleet of Daihatsu Materias, but me moving forward in the entertainment industry is a reward far greater than any amount of cash earned. I've taken a step back in but that step back was one in the right direction. The grass might not be greener on the other side but I'm rather liking this shade...
