THE FULL-SERVICE ATTENDANT: A STORY OF YOUTH POTENTIAL IN A STRUGGLING ECONOMY I pulled into a local filling station recently, not expecting anything more than the usual: “How much, ma’am?” followed by a silent transaction. But instead, I encountered a moment that stayed with me, a quiet reminder of the brilliance that exists around us, often unnoticed. There was a car ahead of me, and I watched a young petrol attendant serve it with intention and care. He didn’t just pump fuel. He checked tire pressure, cleaned the windscreen, and interacted respectfully and professionally. It was what some might call a “full service”, something I hadn’t seen in that filling station. When it was my turn, I realized this wasn’t a once-off. He offered me the same attention to detail, without being asked. He didn’t rush through the job. He took pride in it. I smiled and told him I had been watching him serve the car ahead of me and wanted to thank him for his excellence. I gave him a small gift and asked if he was studying. His eyes welled up with tears as he said, “No, I ended at Grade 12.” He wasn’t studying. He wasn’t working toward something else. This was it. And yet, here was a young man performing a routine job with uncommon grace and integrity. I told him: “Your work ethic is too good to only be here. You should study part-time, you’d do well anywhere.” He nodded with sad eyes, thankful but weighed down by what I suspect is a heavy story he didn’t share. 🌺Hard Work Is Not the Problem, Brilliance Without Opportunity. That young man represents millions of young South Africans, bright, capable, willing to work, but stuck in a system that doesn’t support their potential. He did a full-service job, not because he was asked, but because excellence is in his nature. That’s something no school can teach and no money can buy. But what happens to young people like him when no one sees them? When no one reaches out? When their potential goes unnoticed or worse, ignored? We need to stop equating where young people are with what they’re capable of. And we need to start spotting and supporting youth excellence wherever we see it. 🌺Spot and Support Youth Excellence, where it happens, whether it’s in a petrol station, a supermarket, or a street corner hustle. 🌺Challenge the narrative that youth are lazy or entitled. Most of them are not. 🌺Many are stuck in survival mode, doing their best without much to work with. 🌺Support it in small but meaningful ways a word of encouragement, a lead on a bursary, a pamphlet, a phone call. 🌺A National Attitude Shift I’ll Be Going Back, to share info,because I said I would, because he matters, and because I believe in the power of small interventions. 🇿🇦You don’t need to be a politician or a millionaire to change someone’s life.Sometimes you just need to notice.To speak and act. 🇿🇦Let’s choose to see our youth not for where they are, but for where they could be.Choose to spot & support youth excellence.