Cheap Brands of Alcohol on the Streets of Harare
In the absence of ales and lagers that are now beyond the reach of the not so rich, many imbibers have dropped standards. A few have found Jesus and are now teetotallers with those who swore allegiance to Bacchus the Greek goddess of wine resorting to taking ‘cheap' brands that are very cheap.
Call them cheap on account of poor quality and the drinker-friendly price but the effect is shattering. Most of these cheap spirits come in 200mls plastic bottles with various enticing labels and alluring colours. There is Three Keys, forget the expensive two keys.
Also trendy are Sip Me and Chimusoro not forgetting Double Punch. Symptoms of drunkenness with these vary with the individual. Some youths after taking the illicit drinks will start talking in tongues (ndimi), others singing songs with no words but just sounds.
A few will speak to themselves even smiling and grinning rather stupidly. Four or five ‘Tysons' will also morph from the once kempt young men, threatening to obliterate anyone in sight. Foul language becomes their means of communication. Who shall save our youths from ‘Cyclone Alcohol' before they are served another round of Sip Me? Red eyes, dusty apparels and wasting away bodies have become emblematic of them. Did the Most High not say ‘our bodies are His temples'?
Indeed a beer can be nice but its different when the beer ‘gets' you. We may be losing a whole generation.
Thomas Tondo Murisa. Ruya Dam Shores. Chinehasha.
