A Well-Earned Rest — The View From the Back of the Ranger.

2026-09-11

A Well-Earned Rest — The View From the Back of the Ranger.

Friday Afternoon, Somewhere Behind the Driver’s Seat.

There are moments when a working man does not need an office.

He needs a cargo net.

Today, while the boss is at prayer, I have stretched myself out across the cargo net in the back of the Ford Ranger, with a few boxes of stock behind me, and decided that this is probably as good a place as any to catch a couple of Z’s.

It is Friday.

The day’s work has earned me R150.

And somewhere between the deliveries, the waiting, the traffic and the next instruction, there comes that strange little window where nobody needs anything from me.

So I lie back.

I breathe.

And I contemplate what the weekend is going to bring.

R150 And a Bag of Cat Food.

R150 does not sound like a fortune.

It isn’t.

But when you’re counting every rand, R150 has a job to do.

There is cat food to buy.

There is tomorrow to think about.

And then there is the question I cannot answer yet:

Will I be working tomorrow?

It doesn’t sound as though there will be work tomorrow.

No bar screen.

Perhaps another R150.

Perhaps nothing.

That is the strange mathematics of casual work. You don’t simply earn today’s money. You start calculating tomorrow’s money before today’s money has even found its way into your pocket.

Still, today is today.

And today, I earned R150.

For now, that is enough.

Johannesburg From the Back of the Ranger.

While lying there, I look out over Johannesburg.

The city is still moving.

Vehicles travel across the bridge.

People are going somewhere.

Deliveries are being made.

Businesses are opening and closing.

Money is changing hands.

Johannesburg is doing what Johannesburg always does.

It keeps moving.

From where I am, I can look toward the skyline and see the old Carlton Centre rising above the city, with the Transnet presence now occupying its upper reaches.

I can see the Stock Exchange building looking over toward the Oriental Plaza and the southern entrance to the area.

Somewhere beyond the traffic is the bridge. I think it is the Mandela Bridge, although from this distance I cannot say that with absolute certainty.

And then there is the dome. I believe that is the Johannesburg High Court.

It is one of those views that you can easily overlook when you are busy.

But when you are lying still for a few minutes, everything suddenly becomes visible.

The Luxury of Doing Nothing.

There is something strangely beautiful about being able to stop.

Not permanently.

Not because the work is finished.

Just for a few minutes.

The Ford Ranger becomes a temporary office, waiting room, bedroom and observation deck all at once.

A few boxes become the furniture.

The cargo net becomes a mattress.

The Johannesburg skyline becomes the television.

And sleep becomes the entertainment.

At sixty-three, perhaps I have finally learned something that the eighteen-year-old version of me would never have understood.

Rest is not laziness.

Sometimes rest is simply what happens when a human being has been carrying enough for one day.

So I close my eyes.

The city carries on.

The vehicles keep moving.

The boss is at prayer.

And I get a few precious minutes to myself.

Looking Toward the Weekend.

Tomorrow is still uncertain.

There may be work.

There may not be.

There will certainly be responsibilities.

There will certainly be a cat expecting dinner.

And there will probably be another story somewhere in all of it.

But for this moment, none of that needs solving.

The weekend can wait.

The bills can wait.

The next delivery can wait.

For a few minutes, the old railway artisan, the author, the God’s Journalist and the man trying to make another few rand all become the same person again.

A tired man lying across a cargo net in the back of a Ford Ranger.

Looking at Johannesburg.

Thinking.

Praying.

And catching a couple of Z’s.

Sometimes, that is a well-earned rest.

A Final Thought.

A working life is not measured only by the hours spent standing, driving, lifting, delivering and solving problems.

Sometimes the quiet moments matter too.

A few minutes of rest can give a tired mind room to breathe, and a view of Johannesburg can remind us that our own small struggles are taking place inside a much larger, constantly moving city.

Today it is R150.

Tomorrow is uncertain.

But tonight there will still be another day to face, another story to write, and another reason to be grateful for the opportunity to keep going.

For now, the cargo net will do.

Otto — The Keyboard Is Mightier Than The Pen.