AfrikaBurn calling … again

AfrikaBurn 2017 is calling again. First South Africa impressions and a story that happened yesterday.

Got lost while looking for a bus stop. Asking an employee at a bus station, he told me to go somewhere else. In this very moment a homeless guy stepped in, offering to help me in this situation. From the explanation of the bus staff, I knew it was difficult to find, so I took the offered help. The official gave me a look of “get rid of this person”, but I felt comfortable with him.
His name was Damien, and he told me his story. Could be a smart way to get my sympathy, but you don’t know if someone is a liar. He gave me a lot of details about questions I put, which an uneducated person could not answer in this detail, actual happenings included. Or maybe he was just a brilliant storyteller … who knows?!

Arriving at the main bus station the official gave me the same look of prejudice like the guy before, but I paid the guy in any way for his help. Then asking the officials, they said I was at the wrong place and that I should go back where I came from.

I felt betrayed by the homeless, and I also felt into prejudice mode and pigeon-holed the guy like everybody else does. Back at the station I started, the bus staff asked me if I got robbed by the guy. I denied it and said that I paid him for showing me the way to the main station, which THEY had advised me to go in the first place.

So they looked also confused, but it looked like THEY don’t even know if this was right. But in the end, they kindly picked a bus for me that was running from their station.

Happily, I got to my location and hold finally my AfrikaBurn tent in my hands.

So back to Cape Town.

On the way home I realized, I landed at the main bus station …
The homeless guy was right, and brought me to the right place.

 

It’s so easy to fall into prejudice mode. Don’t let your first thoughts rule your life – you will be easily played, and you just fool yourself. Take the time and have a seat in the back, where you are able to see the whole thing.

See impressions below – use your keyboards left and right arrows keys to navigate, and press ESC once or twice to go back to the article.

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