When we’d bunk classes, we would frequent that park at Joubert Street, and we met many people from all walks of life. One of them was a guy we fondly knew as “Eminem”. I think he once shared with us that he was from Port Elizabeth but lived at that park. I was quite desensitised to the problems of white people then; I honestly did not understand what would have led him to end up there with all the privilege he may have possibly grown up in.

To me, Eminem represented those white kids who got angry at their parents for making them wash the dishes on Mavis’ day off or because they couldn’t attend the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees with Martinus. Or they could be one of those radical ones who will starve themselves to demonstrate how much they empathise with the plight of people of colour, remember the CEOs who slept with the homeless or something like that?

The stories of Eminem and the reason behind him living destitute would not make sense to me then; in fact people like him would irritate me. This entire piece was supposed to take a different turn until the service this morning, the introduction of this month’s theme:” The Grace Of God” One of the things that were mentioned was how the encounter with this grace will change a person’s temperament and how one responds to everything. I am aware of the new knowledge and information I have acquired and how all that has shifted my mindset.

I know that we work with those irritated by the fact that they earn the same income as a Sizwe, or even worse, Sizwe is their supervisor. And sharing the open plan office with the two noisy girls from Soweto works on their last nerves. But then there are equalisers like grief, how Liezel walks around with hunched shoulders since she lost her husband. Ian who struggles to manage his alcohol intake. I see now that there are circumstances that transcend beyond race; maybe had I met Eminem now, I would’ve listened with a different ear and not the one that sought to dismiss him as quickly as possible. I pass by that park often and always wonder about his whereabouts.