What is it about Lakeside?

I have lived in Lakeside, Cape Town my whole life and dont have any intention of moving and I dont have any idea why...I just love it here. I grew up in this beautiful suburbia town and so did most of my friends who I met at the local pre school. Growing up in this area got me really patriotic and a small group of us (yeah, you know who you are) started a crew called the Lakeside Locals...man were we cool, tagging walls with spray paint and when times got tough we went as far as using crayons to get our crew's name outthere. All my friends and I grew up on the vlei side and had a turf war with all the peeps on the mountain side...nothing too hectic, maybe just play them in a game of cricket, soccer or rugby to settle scores...because you dont skill in a gang fight, basically a gang fight in Lakeside was the easy way out...but to out score your rivals was more embarresing than anything. Nowadays we still run into our old rivals at the local watering hole and just drink and talk crap to eachother, avoiding the past as much as we can because noone wants to see a grown man cry in a pub...again, hehe...yeah, you know who you are (summer of '98 was a good year for the vlei side boys, haha). When we got over our little turf war with the mountain side boyz...we actually saw some potential for the lakeside local crew...but that all ended when we found something better to do on Friday and Saturday nights...ALCOHOL, jeez, 15 and 16 was and still is a complete blur for me...but Im proud to say that I still sometimes drink at the same spot I had my first drop of alcohol. Its a chair at the vlei that over looks the whole lake...its good romantic spot if you want to woo a girl, send me an email and I will send you a map, its secret, it had to be because we didnt want our "suburbia parents" finding out we drink, its bad enough we were playing sport with the mountain scum, imagine what they would have thought if they found out we were getting pissed on hooch and other bitch pops...

Lakeside reminds me of a small American town, where everyone knows everyone expect less friendly, well not really just not as hectic as they are in the movies where you run into someone in the shop and have a fat chat...in Lakeside it is a quick hello and move on, but you still know who that person is and a tiny bit about them. My first job was in the local video store...I started to know everyones business (and poor taste in movies)...you find out who the sicko's are and the drama queens...I felt like Tom Hanks in Forest Gump, where he says: "you can tell alot about a person's shoes"...well you can tell alot about a persons taste in movies...seriously you can! I couldnt believe some of the people I thought I knew...

Well, I have been very patriotic (as I usually am) and moved out of home and literally across the tracks (not too close to the mountain side...didnt want people thinking Im a trator) from my parents place...how cool is that? Im still in Lakeside and I still have my folks to do my washing...I am living the life people! I just cant leave, I feel like Im in 'lost' where everyone on 'Oceanic 815' has some sort of bond with the "Island", well Lakeside is my freakin Island and I just can leave...even my girlfriend is from Lakeside, what are the chances!...its great! Two of my closest friends who I grew up with unfortunately left the great suburb but I know that every night before they go to sleep...they cry and scream at themselves because they know...you can never just leave the "Island"...its going to be with you forever....

You will never know Lakeside unless you live or have lived here...FACT!