SOCIAL
I AM A
ZIMBA BWEAN
NELLIE ZEM BE
I
like to use th e p h rase “
I am a Zim babw ean”
just to
em p h asiz
e h ow uniq ue th at m akes m e.I can use it
because I live h ere, im ag ine h ow stup id th at w ould
sound ifI w as say
ing it to anoth er Zim bo tirikuZim babw e.But h ere, I use it w ith an air ofp rid e and som etim es
an obvious sm irk.Let m e ty
p e it one m ore tim e so y
ou
can feelw h at I am referring to… “
I am a Zim babw ean”
.
W h en I sayI am a Zim babw ean, I’m not referring to m y
nationality
.O fcourse th e p h rase m eans I w as born in
Zim babw e but it’s m yansw er to every
th ing , w ell
m ost q uestions...
Job interview :
Potentialem p loy
er:Tellus a little bit about
y
ourself
M e:I am a Zim babw ean…
A lth oug h I m ust ad m it, th is one is not
alw ay
s a h it and I’ve learnt to be very
tactfulw ith th is one because th e
reaction from th e p otentialem p loy
er
can be 1 of2 extrem es.Th e truth is…
and no h ard feeling s but th e craz
iness
ofBEE scores and xenop h obia p uts us
at a d isad vantag e.Alth oug h y
ouw ill
never h ear m e sayI’m som eth ing th at
I’m not because w h eth er I g et th e job
or not, I am w h at I am and I am a Zim babw ean.For th e job th at I am in now
th is is h ow th e interview w ent:
Potentialem p loy
er:Tellus a little bit
about y
ourself
M e:I am Zim babw ean…
Current em p loy
er:Fantastic,
Zim babw eans are such h ard
w orkers, I w illd e nitelynot h ave any
p roblem s w ith y
ou* laug h s*
It w as alm ost as ifth e p h rase ‘I am
a Zim babw ean’ carried som e w ell-know n
m eaning th at every
one h ad com e to und erstand .W e are loy
aland h ard w orking , but above
all, w e are exible p eop le because and ‘blessed
U J ZIM SOC | ISSU E 2
/18
“Job interview:
Potential employer: Tell us a little
bit about yourself
Me: I am a Zimbabwean…”
are th e exible, for th eysh allnot be bent out of
sh ap e’.Long storysh ort, I g ot th e job :).H ard w ork
is actuallyth e onlyop tion m ost ofus Zim bos h ave.
It d oes h elp th at w e are veryintellectualbut m ost
ofit is p ure h ard w ork.
Speaking English
Strang er:Yousp eakso w ell, w h ere are
y
oufrom ?
M e:I am a Zim babw ean * sm irk*
Th is one d oesn’t need an exp lanation,
being Zim babw ean forces y
outo be
articulate.W h en w e sp eak, w e d o
not stum ble, w e d o not p ause
unnecessarilybecause th e w ord is
d ifficult to nd , w e p ause for th e
d ram atic effect ofsavouring th e
m om ent
e rig h t after w e h ave used a
big w ord * sm irk* .Even w h en w e are
accused ofh aving a strong accent
(like really
), th e fact is th e actual
w ord s being sp oken are alw ay
s
im p eccable. I m ean, h ave y
ou
listened to our p resid ent sp eak?
Swimming:
Som eh ow South Africans like
asking th is q uestion...to w h ich
I resp ond “
H aw u! I am Zim babw ean m os?”
Cooking:
Everytim e I m eet a g uyI can
alm ost g uarantee th at w ith in a few
m inutes, I w illh ave to answ er th e
q uestion ofw h eth er or not I can cook.I
d on’t know w h at it is but I’m sure th e
lad ies know w h at I’m talking about.