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Cape Town - "If you feed a hungry dog," said Mark Twain, "he will not bite you. This is one of the main differences between a man and a dog."
Gratitude, as the fabled American author suggested, is often an easily forgotten commodity in the make-up of man - and an example of this was the response of SAFA president Danny Jordaan at a recent press conference to the question of what the future held for Bafana assistant coach and recent caretaker coach, Owen da Gama, up to the time of Stuart Baxter's appointment and since then.
"It depends on what Baxter comes up with when he announces his first squad and technical staff for the African Nations Cup qualifier against Nigeria on Thursday," replied the SAFA president.
Really!
After serving the national body admirably in both capacities with Bafana in what was often a tricky and difficult undertaking, both before and after Shakes Mashaba being fired, Da Gama, deserved a big thank you and some form of recognition - even if Baxter, as is his right, does not include him in his back-up staff.
Hopefully, it will still belatedly be forthcoming.
But a source close to SAFA has revealed that the silence has been deafening in thanking Da Gama for his past services - let alone informing him what, if anything, the national body could offer him in the future.
All this six months after Mashaba was dismissed, with Da Gama still in the dark as to what the future holds out for him.
Asked to comment on the issue, the straight-talking, articulate and courteous Da Gama confirmed he had not been contacted and "knew nothing" about what was going on.
"More than that I do not want to comment at this stage," he added.
Thursday's Bafana announcement should clear up a good many issues.
Hopefully the Da Gama conundrum is one of them.
It's the least he deserves.
