ANN CROTTY: My morning coffee is in danger of being priced into luxury status
The corporate bankers, the lawyers, the executives, all reward themselves on the basis of a system that looks increasingly broken and corrupt
Goodman wanted R10 for his "funny money" leaflet. I was having none of it; I’d already bought the one he was offering. I knew how much it cost him, I made allowances for his time and wear and tear and told him I’d give him no more than R5. We haggled for more seconds than I care to admit before I realised I’d probably reached the end of my tether. I gave him R5 and walked on. Goodman’s crowd-funding enterprise has owned the major intersection between me and my main source of morning coffee for many years. His is a familiar face. Less familiar are all the faces that have arrived at almost every other intersection during the past 12 months or so. In an economy that has an appallingly high unemployment rate and seems incapable of generating jobs, Goodman and his new colleagues represent Homo economicus. They have, at some level, rationally assessed the opportunities available to them and realised that people like me are their best chance. It is a truly grim thought for them, and for me...
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