Broke and famous - a musician's headaches

Last week, I had the worst headaches of my life and I had all kinds of tests done, including a brain scan. Also went to an optometrist to make sure the headaches weren't caused by a change in my spectacles' prescription. All of these tests said I was healthy.

After all the consultations - thousands of rands later - I was helped by a nasal decongestant which costs about R20. I got immediate relief!

Now, did I demand my money back? No, that's not how life works, right? (Topic for another day!)

Why am I telling you this? Well, I got thinking about artists. There've been reports of Zola 7 being broke and later that he's making a comeback. Stories of rags-to-riches-to-rags aren't new. But I digress....

So all this payment could have been for a musician's services,right? If I hired a band, whether they play 5 songs or 50, I'm meant to respect their craft and PAY them their fee without trying to negotiate discounts or any such insulting stints. That's just how life works, isn't it?

Well, if only. I need to keep this article short so I'll wrap up with this call to action: next time you do hire musicians, pay them - and pay them upfront if you can, out of respect for their craft. I won't go into the comparison with how much more AMERICAN musicians get paid to appear here. No, the difference is not necessarily qualitative. Our musicians are better respected outside of SA. We just suck at supporting our own because we believe that consuming anything foreign makes us better. I'll actually just stop here.

Yea, I said it.

How does a blind programmer program?

Around 2004, I worked with a blind programmer, David, who was just amazing as a person, a programmer, and I later discovered he's part of a rock band where he plays a few instruments (including piano and guitar), singer, songwriter, and studio engineer.

Except for having a Braille printer attached to his PC, and text-to-speech software that read stuff out to him when he so chose, here's a few things about David:

• Amazing memory. Shortly after I met him, he and I had to attend a meeting in the Johannesburg CBD (17 KM away from our Randburg office). Johannesburg is a very busy city with many one-way streets. I drove and he guided me thru the most efficient routes (from the passenger seat). He knew Joburg really well so he directed me from Randburg, all the way into the basement parking lot's entrance. Probably not a big deal but I was blown away.
• He knew himself really well: We were late for that meeting so we had to hurry. When we got off the car, I unwittingly wanted to hold his hand and patiently lead the way. He politely asked to rather hold on to MY hand and told me to walk as I normally do. When we got to the security reception (where everyone's required to sign in) I knew what I was gonna do: slip a pen into his right hand and guide it to the dotted line. David politely asked me to place his LEFT thumb on the dotted line and he did the rest.

David was a senior programmer and really wasn't disabled. We worked for a bank and he was allocated to projects as one of the senior developers. You never felt like you needed to treat him with kids' gloves or anything like that - he was a solid programmer. He knew his stuff really well and most importantly (for me), he was a hell of a kind guy who was patient with junior guys, had a great sense of humour, and was totally self-reliant. 

Hell, this guy gave me an impression that he was more able-bodied than most sighted people. Taught me a hell of a lot in a short space of time.