Tired, breathing and panting. I am watching, thinking how stupid it all is,I mean running on this hot,dry day, it's totally stupid.The whole crowd waiting like morons to see ifBruce Fordyce is coming first.Ijust sit there on the ground thinking how boring it all is, reading one of my books,but not paying any real attention to reading or watching the race.I can hear the crowd let out a fee ble clap as the first runner comes past,a Russian guy.. . can't be bothered to remember his name.I get up as Sean calls me and I start walking around dozily while everyone begs to read my computer game magazines. I'm extremely thirsty and I look around for my friend Shaun(because he owes me R20-but he refuses to pay me)and so I ask him for a sip of his Coke(he gives me a small sip reluctantly). I hear everybody shouting as Brucecomes past(he is very far behind).Ilisten to Renzo and Slash shouting"Yeah"sarcastically everytimesome body passes for a while. Finding it very boring, Sean and I head back up to Haley House talking aboutSyndi cate — a computer game. G-P.BRESOLIN Form 2 "Move awayfrom the tape,I don't have a cane,butI've gottear gas,and ifIgetcross or you break the tape you'll run all the way back to the classroom," the traffic cop explodes. A helicopter circling overhead spying overhead,spying on the runners coming up the hill. Atmosphere tense. Plane crossing overhead with message:"Durban Deliv eries Deliver Everywhere." The trek back to the classroom block is nerve-wracking, ducking behind trees,trying to avoid the scrutiny ofthe teachers'/prefects' eyes. When we reached our sanctuary our time is spent wan dering around avoiding the endless footsteps prowling about us. Slowly people begin to appear from behind the Admin building. First 6th formers then 5th then 4th then 3rd and finally 2nd formers. We walk out into the open without threat of being caught and get ready for our next dreaded classes. D.MILBANK Form 2 Loneliness,and Ponderances on Soulful Solitude "All the lonely people Where do they all comefrom? All the lonely people Where do they all belong?" You don'tknow whatthe goldfish is thinking.The eyes are like bubbles on the smooth amber. They betray no emotions. You can stare at each other for hours if you want to. One friendly tap on the bowl, and he retreats with an insolent flick ofthe tail. In two seconds he will have fled to the other side ofthe world.So,is this lone liness ...? Imagine you are sitting in a surveillance camera,keep ing an eye on prisoner...-what's his name again?-.. . XJ54327. In "solitary" for stabbing an inmate. He's going to be "inside"for the rest of his life. No visitors. No interviews. Food delivered via a chute. You get to know the walls pretty well,I guess.I wonder ifhe greets them every morning. He could always pray to God,I suppose,but doesn't He manifest himself in the people around us? I don't think you will find Him in white washed brick walls or lumpy slop in an aluminium dog bowl. Surely,surely,this must be loneliness... You know,someone once said thatlonely people are the ones you see "milling around"in a crowd.If a crowd is a group of lonely people standing together, then there must be something more to loneliness. There are five billion people living in our cosmic sardine tin, and we seem to be getting more and more lonely. Maybe we should take a trip and find out why.No.This isn't going to be"a day in the life ofa lonely person."Think ofit as "The life of a lonely person ...in a day!" Let's start in the morning oflife and everyone's favour ite subject: school. If you think Saddam Hussein had his people down in the dumps-the toxic chemical waste dumps that is - you haven't experienced some of the effluent that gets offloaded on our heads. But schoolwork aside, one of the factors that make the formative years so painful for so many is the alarming amount of ostracization that goes on.It's really amazing how many peoplelead empty lives, unable to confide in anyone, ridiculed from all sides. They have no option but to go through the every day motions while their insides become a black hole of vacuum and emptiness. So a loner is bom. Next stop: your working life. So many people get up, msh to work,slave all day,attend somefunction orclass, and fall into bed,...Oh,I almostforgot,they say hello to their spouse in between seraching for the car keys and gulping the coffee. I honestly believe you do not have to be a brilliant psychologistto see thatone way of combating lonelinessis by building meaningfulrelation ships. So what is going on? Why are relationships not working? Marriage, the most sacred bond of compan ionship,is under assault.In the USA,the divorce rate is approaching 60%. This is all indicative of the modem trend ofcocooning.We havefewer genuine friends out side of the immediate family. We replace these friends with acquaintancesand colleagues.Thefamily is so busy that it is not able to spend enough time together. This leads to an accumulation ofstress which is only released in occasional,damaging doses.We have the absurd situ ation in which someone whois surrounded by otherpeo ple is, in fact, very lonely. If, as the Bible tells us, we were put here to have life, and have it in abundance, then we should be expressing our individualism by in teracting with others. This is, after all, to live. Alvin Toffler,in his profound book"Future Shock"ex pounds his theory on why relationships are becoming less meaningful and long lasting. It forms part of the conceptof"Future Shock",which suggests that because humanity is advancing at such a rate,the future is upon us almostas soon as it appearson the horizon.The world is changing at such a rate that nothing is constant and forward planning is becoming more difficult.Thisis lead ing to a complete breakdown in permanence:injobs,in products... and in relationships. The last stop is the old aged home. This old fossil col lection of ancient history,from the days before Sharon Kearsney Chronicle 1994 43
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