My woes with Matatu Drivers

The typical Matatu driver is rude, obnoxious and will always try to hit on you if you so much as look at him sideways! (Matatu is the local term for the 14-carrier public transport minibus). My woes with these guys are a mile long, but recently I met one who took the cake!!

I like to take the front seat because it has the best leg room, and on this occasion the seat between me and the driver was not occupied and since I was going home pretty late, there were just two other passengers in the rest of the Matatu. Now usually, when these guys see that that there are too few passengers, they try to pawn them off to another Matatu that is going the same way, so that they can turn around and go get more passengers. The problem is, the new Matatu driver is even less invested and chances of being abandoned become even greater!

Anyway, true to form, this Matatu driver was trying to pawn us off and in desperation I decided to use my womanly wiles to persuade him to take us up to our agreed destination. So I start off by asking him what his name is (Daniels something or other), and ask him as sweetly as I can to please take us all the way and not leave us stranded in the middle of no where. After some back and forth, with the other passengers chipping in, he grudgingly relents, claiming that if I wasn't so young and beautiful he would not have agreed. I sit back, well satisfied with my efforts. Daniels however, not one to waste opportunity, immediately launches into some spiel about what a big favour he is doing me and how he will have to produce a signed statement to his wife concerning his whereabouts and why he is getting home so late, and how about I make it worth his while and give him my number.

I smile at him in the dark and go: "But you are married - what use will my phone number be?"

"Eh, don't worry - I know how to handle these things..."

"Well how do you know I am not married myself?"

"Oh, if you are married, that is even better! I like married women."

I shake my head: " No, I'm sorry, I never have anything to do with married men"

"Eee?" he complains, "you also reconsider" as he reaches across the seat separating us and pinches (!) my thigh!!

"Hey! Don't do that!" I exclaim..

He smiles to himself and withdraws his hand and drapes his arm across the seat next to me..

"So," he goes on "are you really married? I was thinking that I could take you all the way to your door step if you like"

I squeeze into my seat and move nearer the door, and reply as frostily as I can manage: "Thank you but no thanks - I already asked some one to pick me up from the bus stop" I lie.

"Who? Your husband?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact"

"Eeeh, why disturb him now?? You can even give him my number and ask him to call me - I think I can take him on."

I look over at the man and wonder what the hell he is going on about. "No, that won't be necessary - he doesn't mind picking me up" I continue trying to squeeze up against the door, and when he sees me doing this he reaches across me and says "hey - careful - the door is not locked!"; he locks the door and taps thigh nearest the door as he brings his hand back to the wheel.

"Stop that!" I snarl. He throws his head back and laughs: "Come on, we're just having a bit of harmless fun"

I snatch my bag off the seat between us and lay it across my lap, and proceed to sit there fuming. Honestly. These guys think that a little flirting gives them the license to basically molest you! I wonder if I should just get out of the Matatu but the road looks quite deserted, and I can't be sure that I will get another Matatu at this time of night. The other passengers chatter on, no clue what is going on. I turn around and engage the other passengers in some banal chatter, and ignore Daniels though he keeps trying to interrupt our conversation. He even turns up the music and dedicates some song that's playing (and that I have never heard) to me.

Eventually, we reach our destination. Quick as lightening, before I can open the door Daniels reaches across me to unlock the door and I immediately press into my seat and hope he does not try anything else. Sure enough though, as one hand unlocks the door the other hand snakes towards my crotch (!) and when I push it away roughly he growls in my ear "come on, at least let me just touch your hootchie, you've already refused to give me your number!"

I practically fall out of that Matatu as I shout: "I TOLD YOU TO STOP THAT!!"

The nerve!!

Anyway, I have to say that I met ONE nice driver once, and was so impressed with his gentlemanly behaviour that I have never forgotten it. In fact, I had decided to give Matatu Drivers the benefit of the doubt since then, but Daniels had to go and spoil it for them again! But about this other driver. I was on this Matatu headed out of town, in my usual spot by the driver, and was totally surprised by the courtesy with which he treated me. The main reason I was so impressed by this other driver was that even though he had every opportunity to keep brushing his fingers against my thigh as he moved the gear shift, he was veeery careful not to. Other drivers get their thrills by spreading their fingers out and moving the shift in such a way that that can feel you up... I am always totally baffled by that - I mean what can they possibly benefit from that?? These kinds of drivers will also usually slump in their seats and spread their legs so that their arm and thigh are in full contact with yours - this driver was different though - I could tell he was making a special effort to sit upright and keep himself to himself. I only ever see this kind of behaviour during the month of Ramathan - in that month these guys will even return your money in case you over pay them!! The first time it happened to me my eyes almost popped out of my skull!!

Anyway, this one driver not withstanding, I think of all the rest of them as annoying, thieving perverts; unless of course they give me cause (on a case-by-case- basis) to think otherwise.

Facebook took me over!

I used to come here very often to blog (read vent, reflect, etc.), but since I discovered Facebook I have a much quicker way to express myself - in that one sentence status report! Nevertheless, the last few days I have suddenly felt that I needed to take up blogging again.

It is impossible to compress one year of absence, so I will just take up with the most recent developments.

So. This morning I wake up from a dream. (Yes - as recently as this morning :-)) There is this guy that I think is totally hot and I think is kind of into me - 'kind of' being the operative phrase, seeing as he makes no effort to pursue me beyond sending me flirty messages on Facebook and texting me now and then. Anyway: had a really nice dream where he came to visit with me in my childhood home, and we took a walk hand in hand, which progressed to arms around waists, and finally to being engulfed by his arm around my shouder. As we were getting to the end of the walk he pulled me down to sit on the grass (I guess it was already dark since the grass had dew on it), and just as we were getting cozy, my stupid alarm woke me up! :-S

I have not had such a nice dream in ages and ages.. I attribute it to watching that movie 'wall e' last night - a robot love story that was so sweet!

That's all. Thought I would share. :-)

On Trust

The last few weeks have been so busy that I have not had time to compose myself enough to blog; which is too bad since a lot has happened that will now be lost in the black hole in my memory. Actually my memory is so bad (and I know I should not confess such a negative thing) that I think one of the reasons I tell so many stories about what I am thinking and doing so that the people I tell can remember for me.. One of my closest friends remembers stuff so much better than me that that she sometimes has to convince me that this stuff really happened to me, recreating the setting and time and everything to aid my remembrance!!

Anyway.

Today I was forced out of my semi-retirement because of something that I learnt about myself this weekend - it really shook me to the bones.

So. It is like this. I know a good man. I have known him for five years. Apart from the first three months after we met, we’ve lived in different countries during this time. However, we have managed to keep in regular contact (mostly through his effort really). We have spent maybe ten days together during two different periods in the time we have been apart. Now, from the moment we met, we both knew that ours was no ordinary friendship, and that but for the lack of opportunity, we would definitely have dated. During the 10 days or so that we have spent together (mostly on holiday), we have found that we really like one another. We have discussed possibilities of dating but neither of us is able to move, nor can either of us handle long distance dating. We have decided to continue to be in touch while we see how things develop, but we are essentially free to date other people.

Now.

He has recently expressed a desire to see me in person during his Summer Break this year, and is looking into visiting with me in my country (although this is not definite yet). These plans have revived in me the question of where the two of us are going, especially in light of the view that every time we part after one of these visits we are plunged into paroxysms of longing and despair! (at least I am!). As such, in my infinite wisdom, I decided to ask only to come if he sees a future for our relationship. He said ok, he’d put this into consideration. We had a long talk about it and exchanged a few lovey dovey sms (we do this despite our ‘friends’ staus). Around that time, he took a few days replying an inane sms that I sent him and when he finally responded I completely flew off the handle. I told him that if he could not take 1 or 10 or even 30 minutes out of his day to respond to text (he says e-mail and text take him ages to compose), then I did not want the ‘free time’ that he was going to bestow on me during his Summer Break either. (Plus a host of other stuff ranting around the same theme - his not having time for me.)

He smsd to say he was sorry he had not replied my sms earlier but that all the same my sms made him out to be more evil than he was., finishing with a promise to write me an e-mail later. Later that night he sent me another sms saying he’d sent the e-mail but that as I read it, I should remember how much he liked me.

WOW! The Panic that set in!! Let me preface this by saying that this is one of the most patient men I know. I have pulled stunts that would un-horse a lesser man, but this man stays constant in his affection and commitment (to staying in my life, if only in a friendly capacity). So, that he would send me an sms to ask me to keep an eye on how much he likes me as I read this e-mail convinced me that he had finally had enough and was going to cut ties!

Since it was too late to go out to look for an internet café that was open, I had to wait until the morrow but let me tell you: I passed a night like none I have ever known before! The torture!! Of course it became crystal clear that I wanted this man and I to have another chance – or shall I say a chance? In truth we have never really had this. Here he was willing to come all the way to Africa to visit and I throw his offering in his face. I considered all the ways in which he and I get along, the many great conversations that we have had, the two great holidays, and I knew I was not ready to let him go.

The next day I lingered in bed, dreading the moment of truth. The need to ppe tried to push me out of bed but I resisted until my bladder was near bursting. I could sense the sunlight behind my closed eyelids and knew it was well into mid-morning. Still I resisted. Finally the pressure to pee became too great and I had to go - so opening my eyes to slits, I felt my way to the bathroom, and returned straight back to bed. After some minutes lying immobile in my bed, I realised the futility of my actions and decided to just get up and go and face the music.

SO. He told me he was really insulted that knowing how busy he is I would say that was only coming to see me because he had ‘time on his hands’ That he really understood I was disappointed about his late reply, but that he had wanted to include some info on his proposed trip in his reply, and this info had been so long in coming and he had ended up smsing without it anyway. That this not withstanding, he knew and I knew that our underlying disagreement was my wish to have ‘all or nothing’, while he could not in all honesty promise anything before he got his Medical Training over with. He really wished we could still be friends because really he had never met anyone like me. All the women he met simply did not measure up to me either. Moreover, he was afraid that he might one day regret it but he is simply not in a position to just say: LETS DO IT! This said, he wanted me to be happy, and he respected my feelings. He finished by saying he still wanted to come see me if I let him, and that he really wished we would still be friends.

Anyway, the short of it is that I felt such relief that I fairly burst into tears!! I could not believe I had gotten another chance. He said he had been really hurt by my remarks and that he hoped I would apologise for them, so I just wrote back to him apologising for my hurtful remarks and telling him was more than welcome to visit.

So. What did this incident teach me?

Well, first, let me tell you about this man. If you ask me on my sober days, I will tell you that I have not the slightest doubt about the depth of feeling this man has for me. He shows it in ways too many to count. He respects, admires and delights in me. I can describe in glowing detail all the things we have in common, and tell you about the countless hours we have spent on the phone sharing our lives across the ocean. I will tell you the strong attraction that we have between us and how the very blood in my veins boils if his fingers so much as brush my arm!

So why do I attempt, again and again, to push him away? This weekend it came to me clear as a bell. I think I am just really AFRAID to risk my heart! Hmm... I know this sounds obvious. Cliché. Too simple perhaps. However, I think it is completely true. I mean, one would think that the natural response to such steadfast affection should be to receive it, not to reject it. I am unable to simply believe that someone wants to continue calling me, to visit me, and to share his life with me, even when things don’t seem so defined between us. Before I can risk my affections further (by enjoying another holiday with him) I want reassurance that there is a future, that he would move mountains to be with me, give up his ambitions, do what he needed to do, to be with me. This is really unfair I think. If anything, I have much more flexibility on the moving front since I have been admitted to two Universities in Europe for my PhD, one of which is in his country. Of course I would not move just to be near him, but the fact is that it is completely impractical for him to move anywhere – he still has a couple of years left of his Medical Training, and realising this, he knows he cannot promise anything. All the same he is willing to invest in something that doesn’t seem to have much promise, by travelling here to spend his holidays with me. Knowing how I feel about him, why don’t I go with it until such a time as we run out of options? It is true this is a path that is fraught with danger, but after all, so is dating anyone. I can take comfort in the fact that I a have not put all my eggs in that basket (and would be unwise to do so) since I still accept men’s invitations to date. It is too bad that none of these dates has progressed beyond the first or second date, but maybe one of these days one will. In the meantime, why don’t I view this as yet another date, and relax into it?

I think that what I have learnt most of all is to allow relationships to unfold at their own pace – I can only live my best life in the meantime. I should quit trying to control things, and while admitting my desire to be in a loving relationship, have the faith that love will come to me, and that it will come to stay.