THE EDITOR, Sir: Permit me to join John Maxwell (‘Keep vuvuzelas away from
Champs’, Saturday, March 2, 2012) in voicing concern about this annoying noisemaker, the vuvuzela.
Last week, I was at the Gibson Relays. Someone was blowing one behind me and I was, literally, going crazy.
What proved to be the last straw for me was when a race ended and there was a period of inactivity. But the blowing of the vuvuzela continued and even became more intense.
I decided to turn around and give the child a piece of my mind. But it was no child. It was a woman old enough to be my granny. I relented and was saved from possibly permanent ear damage because she was overtaken by a lengthy coughing spell.
Thankfully, as she recovered, an usher came to tell her she was in the wrong seat.
If one is forced to listen to the sound made by this demonic device, as long as I was last week, one would be forced to conclude that it would be more likely to be appreciated – and understood – in the country of its origin – South Africa.
GLENN TUCKER