Vox-popping in town...and other adventures

Jonathan Ancer asked me to write both a hard news story on the quality of life survey that ISER's planning for Grahamstown East, and a feature on Prof Valerie Moller's opinions about quality of life in Grahamstown. I suggested both these angles, and in my naivety suggested that I could do vox-pops in town to see whether people agreed with Moller's opinions for the feature story. Bad move.

I tootled off to Pick 'n Pay pretty confidently on Tuesday afternoon to start taking vox-pops. I had decided that I'd ask people how long they'd been in Grahamstown, and then whether they felt quality of life in Grahamstown had changed for better or worse during that time or since 1994, whichever was shortest. The whole point of doing the vox-pops in town was, of course, to get the opinions of regular townspeople, rather than students.

As Murphy's law would have it, the first person I meet on New Street would happen to be a close friend of mine. And he would ask me what I was doing, and I would feel obliged to interview him. Still, I thought that was fine. Students are a part of this town, after all.I walked further along and found a man standing around at the corner of Peppergrove's Allen Street exit. He gave me a great answer, and I felt like I was getting somewhere. Then I get into Peppergrove and decide to do my shopping before carrying on with the vox-pops.

I took one look at the people coming in and out of Pick 'n Pay, and another look at the Hi-Tec security guards hanging around, looking like they wouldn't appreciate me standing there interviewing randoms, and headed out of Peppergrove. I met a beggar in the road, flipped him a couple of coins and asked his opinion. It was good. I then walked on to the entrance of Checkers, asking a few people on my way for their opinions, but they're all rushing home from work, and so don't have time for a friendly reporter.

When I get to Checkers, I stand in the doorway for a while, but everyone's moving too fast for me to get a word in edgeways. Then I get sidetracked by a half-blind, drunk beggar who thinks I'm God. He twists my arm into buying him bread and amasi. Memo to myself: Never bring money with you when you do vox-pops in town. And never try doing it in the entrance to Checkers. I pray with the man, make some attempt at a theological discussion with him, then beat a hasty retreat, unnerved. He'll keep on bugging me if I stand around Checkers, and anyway, it's 5:30pm by now, so there aren't too many people around. All I have to show for my hour-long vox-popping section is four interviews: two of students, and two of black males. Not exactly what you'd call good demographics.

I came back to give another stab at it this morning. First target was a bead-seller under the arch. She couldn't speak English. Right, I'll just move on. I make my way to Peppergrove, garnering another interview as I go. There I lurk in the doorway to Pick 'n Pay (which is now mercifully clear of security guards), ready to pounce on all those soccer moms coming to do their groceries while the kids are at school. As any American politician will tell you, the soccer mom is the holy grail demographic. Once you've got her on your side, you can do anything. And anything is precisely what I do: I even load a little old lady's groceries into her boot so I can interview her, and speak to the grumpy old man waiting for his wife in the car next door.

Eventually I have my target of ten complete vox-pops with requisite variation in gender, age and race. It's taken me about two hours. It was quite an experience, but it's under my belt now. But next time I vox-pop in town, I don't think I'll be nearly as selective about my demographics, or quite as shy to pounce on people and ask them for a comment. - Ian