Today I had a strange stab of tribalism, or perhaps not tribalism as such as Kenyanism!
I got a call from a company known as East African something or other who needed me to do some handing out of promotional stuff and I asked that if I did them that favour then could I expect some ad in the new magazine or suchlike.
The Kenyan girl I was speaking with said that would be a great idea, and she’ll get the lady who deals with advertising to give me a call.
Well, later on some South African lady calls me and starts off by telling me I’ve been in touch with some fellow I’ve never heard of and that she hears i want to buy ad space off her!
I did try and explain that it wasn’t quite like that, and that I had been talking to a very nice ‘Kenyan chick’ and why.
So this snooty South African woman tells me that they make no such deals and I should pay top whack for my advertising space.
Well my Kikuyu side kicked in with a vengeance: ( - Just call me Njambi!)
“Hey lady – I think you missed the point here entirely – I’m doing you a favour!!’ – I mean sorry, but why would I do something for nothing – this is no NGO we’re talking here and who the hell does some smart arse South African think she is to have the audacity to talk to anyone like that anyway. Please note, the South Africans ‘MAY’ think they are smarter than us Kenyans – but they are SO NOT!!
It made me think back to an article in the press a couple of weeks ago saying how so many South African companies fail dismally in Kenya. It’s because these people talk to us like we’re completely stupid and try and bulldoze us.
People – you need to wake up – Kenyans are proud people and have no wish to be spoken to like idiots by anyone.
“We know our own minds thank you and have done perfectly well without you so far. So, thanks but no thanks for the help. Go back where you came from until you learn that we are all perfectly civilized and did not just swing in from the bush thank you, and we can stick up for ourselves quite nicely!!”
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2 comments:
Hi there - greetings from South Africa :)! Great blog! Sorry to hear about your experiences with South Africans. Yes I am sure there are many such situations - and we down here must lift those heads of the sand and check out what is going on all around the continent! I am actually a Hungarian living in South Africa for 10 years now - if you have a sec check out my blog at www.szavanna.co.za .
Thanks for comment Szavanna. Sorry - probably huge generalisation of the South Africans there, but that's how they come across here. Will definitely check our your blog.
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