Wednesday, August 22, 2007

It's great to be Kenyan!

I was following a pick up down the road today packed to the brim with metal chaffing dishes – you know those big metal trays they use to keep food warm at functions.
Anyway, in usual Kenyan fashion, they were pilled to the hills and then tied on with the odd piece of string – like they may just all hang on to each other because the string is really just a formality. Well, funnily enough, they didn’t!!
One came flying off the back of the pick up and straight into the road in front of me – luckily enough it bounced once in front of me and then shot across the road rather than straight into my car blowing its radiator or windscreen or something else nasty! – I miraculously dodged it and it took off into the oncoming traffic and the fellow heading in the opposite direction slammed on the brakes and stopped right in front of it.
He of course got seriously hooted at and abused – and ignoring all, got out of his car, picked it up, stopped an oncoming car and handed it over so that everyone could now give chase!
I was already flashing and hooting at the pick up, and although they slowed down, they probably just thought ‘Mad Woman Driver!’ and kept going!! Then a huge 4x4 came by at high speed also hooting and flashing with the passenger leaning out the window shouting to the guy driving the pick up, so that finally made him pull over. I then also pulled over to explain to them why I had been hooting and flashing so wildly and then there came another car behind us and gave him back his dish.
We had all driven a good kilometre by then probably – but what’s so great in this fine country of ours is the help that everyone gave them. It just shows – if we’d been in the UK or perhaps some other European country – everyone would have just diverted round the dish and kept going I’m sure!
Here everyone did their bit to help these people out because, as we all know, chances are that if they arrived at where ever they were headed to without the dishes all accounted for - someone would have to pay - and that is something we all know about and yet can ill afford to pay for.
Today it’s great to be Kenyan!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey there, great to hear a White person say they love to be Kenyan. As an African Kenyan living in America I find that quite interesting in a country so global yet so parochial. However I've had more of a chance to intermingle with white persons more than I did in Kenya. I intend to return in the next couple of months and hope I can meet non-African Kenyans for congenial friendships. You don't know how such encounters take you out of the box and broaden your horizons, especially in your own country where you are a majority and can wrongly feel superior. If you have your own to bring to the table no one can dismiss you. It turns out Kenya is more international in its outlook than many parts of America are but it doesn't translate to Kenyan interactions on the ground. Anyway, words of wisdom from a more enlightened Kenyan wishing the same for its citizens... any thoughts? email me at clevermba@yahoo.com.