One
is more likely to believe I have been a "guard" now than they would five years
from now. Like any story from anyone who had an interesting past.
This happened a few years back...
It
was just an ordinary Sunday Morning and we were calmly telling stories among
ourselves at our post. We were monitoring the CCTV feed from the dozen cameras
placed within an estate somewhere in Embakasi, East of Nairobi that we had been
assigned to that month. Our company does this on a rotary basis to avoid cases
of inside jobs. It was cold and not much was being said. By 3am most of the
stories had already been told. I had this tendency of doing the first shift so
that I could continue with the rest of the shifts with buddies instead of sleeping.
I am a nocturnal remember. My cud was busy chewing on the fresh Khat that
I had procured before the start of the day. I had a long day and I couldn't
wait for the night for me to start chewing on it. My pet coke was 3/4 full
since I was more into sipping water than the highly carbonated drink. I was on
my third bag of peanuts also. There was also black coffee kept warm at the cistern
at a corner of the room & mahamri that a resident had sent her children to
deliver. (I was made to understand she does that every weekend, just out of
goodwill) My friend was also at his load, he was the kind that loved to fill
the cheek to full capacity, I preferred a small lump the size of three Trident bars/sticks). Women were the
most common topic and we happened to be discussing women at that moment when a charter
van from a renowned company approached the gate. We viewed it as it slowed down
from the first Camera at the extreme end of the fence of the estate. The first
camera hidden of course was about 300 meters from the gate but it had a great
view of this side of the entrance. It's occupants were a few ladies two men and
the driver. After a few minutes it came to view on the two screens at the top
middle section of the sectored screen. The first camera had the number plate in
full view and the automatic screenshot beep was heard as it captured the number
plate. The other camera zoomed in to the driver and front passengers.
I
tapped my colleague - Chome, so we could go check out the vehicle. Since I was
not on shift, they left with his shift mate Zack. I just walked briskly to the
gate and took a walk round the Van, which had an airline’s name on a board
between the dashboard and the windscreen. Zack greeted them but only the driver
responded. He asked them what they needed and they said they were there to drop
a friend. They had just landed from a long flight. Of course, it was
3.am. Not on the dot really, past 3am I mean…
Zack
took them through the procedures and requested them to give their IDs so that
he could book them in as protocol dictated. Weee!!!! That is when all hell
broke loose.
"Kwani
nyinyi ni nani mnatuitisha IDs hapa!?"
"Hatuwezi
wacha ID!!!"
"Hatujawai
wacha! Tuwachie tu lakini, tudrop tu huyu beshte yetu halafu twende zetu,
tumechoka.”
“Tafadhali
wacha tufuate sheria, ambayo inasema, vitambulisho ziachwe ama job card” Zack retorted
I
was still doing my walk round the car but in the silent night, I was within clear
range of all the voices in and out of the van. A small argument ensued but my
friend maintained calm. The cabin crew, who were now angry were full throttle
on confused English accents and voices of different pitch and we were lucky
enough our colleague was as fluent as they were & with the calm voice as in
the begining.
At
some point someone muttered:
“Security
tu! na mna ringa hapa ni kama hatujawai ona watchie wengine…”
“Hizi
uniform tuliona tukachoka!”
I
almost choked!!!
“Ni
sawa madam haina shida, hata hiyo umevaa ni uniform na tukipatana kwa Ofisi
yako ungetaka nikuheshimu pia. Ama?” Zack said.
I
was so angry!!! Hurt, also. I was almost spitting my content to come retaliate.
But, I decided to keep calm. I realized I had paced around the van over three
times when one of the men making weird gestures with one hand and the other
clutched on a tablet said:
“Huyu
naye shida yake ni nini anazunguka zunguka gari hivi?”
I
could not focus… ‘Keep calm Chris, Keep calm” In my mind I was like, You are
just stewards, glorified and you have no right to dispose your stress on us
whether you were from Dubai or you were just making laps between JKIA and Moi Intl…
“Where
is the lady who is being dropped?”
I
did not realize asking. My English was good enough I believe. From the back she
said “Mimi” I asked if she had the Estate Pass and she said yes. I also asked
if she knew the rules of the estate. Rules their parents established and
ensured they reminded us in ways inclusive of insults & disrespect at times
when incidents within the estate erupted. Most common was clandes accessing
their illegitimate men’s houses and fighting with the wife et al.
She
nodded to everything. Then I said…
“Kama
marafiki zako hawataki kuwacha ID na unajua sheria, Wacha wabaki toka utembee.”
“That should also be a lesson” You shouldn’t go insulting other people by virtue of their careers. We are not guards because we are inferior than you…” I could feel my skin bursting into a thin sweat and tremors through my hands.
She
attempted to interrupt “Pole Boss, ni vile tumechoka…”
I
hated that term in that context… *Boss* No!!! She didn’t just throw that word
on me, under the circumstances, Noooo !!!! People never realize some insults. I
know many security guards like being called that and even myself I used to call
some that way when off duty and far from my area. It is just not real…
I
was not done yet:
“…You
never know where we meet in another life. Tafadhali chukua mzigo wako na
utembee pole pole hadi kwa nyumba.”
“Driver,
wewe geuza gari na mwendelee na safari.”
Chome
and Zack agreed with me. Broad smiles of triumph on their faces.
The
man at the door opened the door and the young lady of around 22 stepped out. My
colleague inspected her pass and compared the details with those on the ID and
allowed her in. We wished her a safe walk (‘course it was safe. Very safe. Except
for a few random snakes’ loud frogs and a piercing breeze that blew from the
open grounds). Clearly, the lady was infuriated. Nevertheless, it was a good
thing – or so I thought at the time. She had like a km or so under the dawn
cold to think about life, how to treat people better and respectfully.
After
observing the van leave, I couldn’t just believe what I had heard… Those were
Flight attendants, as confident as they had been in their little show of
disrespect, part of a larger career I had been eying, even at that moment while
on that night job. I was hurt… I dint realize it until I felt my cheek pain
from the load that I had subjected it too… Too much to chew like literally. I
was that pissed. Anyway, who cares, I told myself. It is just one of the many
dramas we faced, I have been through worst. As long as the following day I availed,
myself for my weekly swim then sleep like a log till Monday… Life was good, my
dream was still intact and that is all that mattered.
So,
as I was saying before beginning this throw back edition of idleness on a keyboard, we don’t know
where we will all be in the next five years. But from the look of things, I
will be trying to tell my life’s story and nobody will be believing it. Because
we are all somehow clouded by different perceptions of the people we are, the
people we meet, and the people we all become. Let us just wait… That is in the
past. So now a few understand why I am ever cordial to security people…
Meanwhile,
I send my shout outs to the occupants of that van, that ‘inspiring' morning. I
may have spiced the tale a tad or left some worse details but you know what
went down that morning. For the lady who had to walk through that freezing
night, my apologies for having to format your 8 hour international flight
experience in such a manner. This ‘measly security guard’ will be seeing you around,
hopefully at another gate.
Hi. Same Old Drama, Different Day. This blog is about me and others, nature, life, blah blah and why everything I like is great even the hurting - still great. If you disagree with anything you find on this page, Well. . . You are probably right..
0 comments:
Post a Comment