There is No Burger Like a Joburger
Another Monday morning and another 15km city run. The Tyrone Harriers were in Hillbrow this morning.
After a weekend of rainy overcast conditions, it was a beautiful morning in the city. It helps if you have an upbeat outlook on the world to enjoy a city-run in Johannesburg. That means you need to be able to see past the dirt, litter, potholes, poverty, and squalor. Isn’t that the general attitude of a Joburger?
Having lived in Johannesburg for nearly 5 decades, I qualify as a Joburger. However, I think there are a few more criteria that one must have to qualify as a Joburger.
The Capetonians have the mountain- a beautiful geographic feature that defines so much of their lifestyle. Joburgers have Northcliff hill. Hardly a comparison. But, Joburgers have something else that Capetonians don’t have. Joburgers have an attitude to life that is unique.
Capetonians can rely on the beauty of their surroundings to do all the heavy lifting when it comes to being attractive. What the Capetonians have can easily be portrayed in a travel brochure. What Joburgers have is an intangible quality that can never be conveyed in a glossy photograph.
When I think of the average Joburger, the following list describes the characteristics that come to mind, let’s call them qualifying criteria.
- Joburgers are warm, friendly, inclusive folk who are always quick to invite an outsider to a braai.
- Joburgers know that the city is a dump, and if we don’t have a sparkling personality, the world will forget that we exist.
- Joburgers know that a breakfast outing is normally at a restaurant that looks onto a carpark. Therefore, we might as well drive nice cars so we can enjoy the view while we eat our eggs.
- Joburgers live behind the high walls and big security gates, after all, there is no view to block out. But when you are invited in behind the walls, you will always find a warm heart and a cold beer.
- Joburgers have a “can do” attitude that can easily be mistaken for an F! you attitude.
- Joburgers ask for forgiveness but never permission.
- Joburgers are made up of all types, and they are a highly cosmopolitan group.
It is important to note that there are no barriers to entry to become a Joburger; all are welcome. This is no exclusive group that requires permission for entry. Joburgers simply get on with stuff. They take life on at full speed. Being a Joburger is an attitude to life. It is the type of attitude that says, “even if the city is a dump, we are going to run there anyway, just like we own the place”.
Justin Spencer-Young
