The Hypocrite that is I

I had two encounters yesterday that jarred me and my set of beliefs. I’ve always thought of myself as very liberal. Until I was sitting in an overcrowded kombi on its way to Epworth and the four people who were in sitting at the back of the kombi started talking about how they were envious of this woman who had given her boyfriend turned husband $8000.00 in order that he might marry her. The arguments were that he had recently lost his job and that this showed how much the woman loved him; that she would marry him inspite of his status as a poor and therefore inadequate male.

The naysayers said ngaatodzikama zvake murume iyeye otherwise akarasa muromo one day anonyadziswa pakazara vanhu onzi hauna kundirora ini ( that man should behave himself otherwise one of these days he will be embarrassed in front of people after she tells him to shut up since he did not marry her). I found my bile rising because noone mentioned the possibility that the man might one day say ndanga ndisingakude ini wakatondimanikidza kukurora (I did not loe you, you forced me to marry you). Anyway what made me realise the reason for my bile rising was that I before getting into this kombi Id been into one of those pirate taxis that sits 5 people in the back,three in the front and a conductor in the boot. This taxi was being driven by a woman with immaculate make up and perfect manicure. I found my stream of consciousness running wild. Did she need the money with urgency?, was she perhaps a prostitute who had a bad night? how could such a woman, indeed any woman be involved in this trade largely characterised by people with unwashed bodies and foul mouths. These were thoughts flying unbidden in my mind.

It never once occurred to me that she might actually be just another person hustling to make a living until she said vabereki two two padollar ( parents, two on the dollar) and after delivering us safely to the terminus and going on to say Coppa Cabbana Market square, two vasara(two more to go) in an evenly pitched voice id otherwise have imagined as fitting in a creche setting.

I chided myself.

Of course.I should have known better than to judge this woman about whose life I had no inkling. How many times do I do that? And even worse when I’m being a female patriach. Anyway the beauty of going around in public transport is that you nearly always learn something, If you don’t, you get a good laugh. I learnt a lot about my prejudices and now I am working on them.

I also learnt that I need to get a car ASAP.