Wave the Flag

Everywhere you go, you hear this song.  At every commercial on TV, in the grocery store, at the mall, from car radios.  I have even started to dream this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms2jeF0hViQ&feature=related

A shot of the vuvuzelas at the Fan Park last week.







But behind this energy, there is an entire nation waiting for the games to be over to see what will happen.  Yesterday, I had the opportunity to talk to a small business owner, a man who paints beautiful prints (I bought one I like them so much and I RARELY purchase art.)  We negotiated the price of the print,, then I told him that I would pay a bit more if he would sit with me and talk about his business.  That I had some really "tacky" questions to ask of him, and did he have the time to sit with me.

He laughed, and said that yes, he did have time and would ALWAYS have time to talk shop, especially with an American.

I didn't have my notebook with me so I don't remember his name, but we will call him Asgio.  Asgio's "shop" is in the basement of an Arts and Crafts center, where many merchants have tiny stalls to sell their wares.  His location is near the front of the basement, a spot he has moved up to over the years, he used to be near the back "where the air is bad."  He hand-paints all of his prints, using the townships as inspiration.  I asked what his average daily sales was, and he said on average, R500 per day (about $71 US - gross). We talked about the difference between gross sales and net sales (ooooo .... baby!!), he actually nets about R250 ($30 US) per day.  That comes out to $900 US per month, if he works seven days a week (which he said he often does.)

I asked about the World Cup and what sort of revenue increase he had seen from that.  He looked at me sadly and said that his store is not on the "tour" route (where the tour busses stop) so he has had almost no increase in sales due to the Cup.  He said that he had been to a number of meetings sponsored by the Cape Town Chamber of Commerce (that isn't their name, but the local tourism board) telling him that he could expect wild increases in his sales and to prepare stock to have on hand.

I asked if he had done this, and he smiled sheepishly and said no, he hadn't.  He hedged around, then quietly told me that he really nevetr believes what the government tells him, that he is a business man who knows his own business. I then asked where the World Cup money is going, that there is tourism coming into the country, that the planes are full and the hotels are full, and those people are spending money, and he again looked sad and said "They are spending it on food, alcohol, and World Cup FIFA jerseys, not on local arts."

He said people are worried about the economy when everyone goes home in a couple of weeks.  I asked him if HE was worried, and he got a big toothy grin on his face and said no, not him.  That he is a good business man and knows how to plan his expenses.

That made me smile.  Then he hit me up for another print.

That made me smile even more.