Last Fiasco of 2008

just a regular sort of day....

Go ahead. Have a laugh at my expense! Just another ordinary day for an ordinary person. It is still break time from school, but I have gone into work some this week to help process several boxes of new books for the library. Renee and I had a good time working on books, chatting, etc. Both of us enjoying the relaxed atmosphere and being able to work in jeans and shorts for a change. I wore my favorite pair of Capri’s that I bought in Italy this summer, which are super lightweight and comfortable. Evidently they were too lightweight as I went to bend over, one side on the back ripped all the way across!! Of course this happened just seconds before Oscar, the computer tech guy, came into the library! Thinking quickly, I just grabbed a roll of book tape and patched things up. I didn’t think about my pants again until the drive home. I told Leah about my funny pants and we had a good laugh over it and I made a mental note to not stop on any errands on the way home, but to go home and change first. So we are about 2 km from home and something is wrong with the car. Oh, no! It’s a flat tire! Granted, it is not fun to get a flat tire anywhere, but here you have to deal with lots and lots of people crowding around the car and all but fighting each other to help you so they can get a little cash. Taking a deep breath and putting on my fiercest “don’t mess with me” look, I get out of the car and begin to get the spare and the necessary tools. I also search in vain for a piece of cloth to cover my backside, as of course the pants have ripped a bit more on the drive. No luck. Many people went out of their way to come and ask if they could help, and I managed to keep them at bay. Perhaps it was the way I held the lug wrench when they approached me, I doubt it. Luckily, I am fairly proficient at changing tires, so I had things going along nicely until I was unable to loosen the lug nuts. Somehow I had a mental block and forgot I could just use my foot to smack the wrench. Instead I searched high and low for a big rock and found none. I tried calling the boys, who were at home, to get them to bring me a hammer. No answer. I called everyone I could think of in the area and no go…it was weird. I finally decided to put everything back in the car and walk the 2 km home to get the hammer myself. Leah was not pleased with this option. At that moment, Keith calls. He, in his patient way, reminded me that I could use my foot to loosen the lug nuts. Boy, did I feel like a total idiot!! DUH! I told him about my pants and he got a good laugh. With renewed hope, energy, and dignity, I begin the process again. There is a group of teenagers who have been watching me from a distance. We have been talking Swahili this whole time after I chewed them out for calling me Mzungu (white person). I was in no mood to be nice. I ignored them as they told me I was doing it all wrong and that I needed to let them help me. Dignity is lost as I am crawling around on the ground, backside up in the air, as I am finding the right spot to place the jack under the car, again. I felt triumphant when I loosened those lug nuts, got the tire off, and the spare on. Yes! As I put everything away, I almost took a bow to my teenage audience, but decided not to. After the short drive home and relaying my bit of frazzledness to the boys and Keith, I go to finally get changed. To my absolute horror……..
I saw that the OTHER side of my pants was ripped completely and unabashedly across the back!! I just wanted to melt into the floor, but burst out laughing instead!
Moral of this fiasco: Don’t leave home without book tape!!! Or a better one is just not to take yourself too seriously.
May this bring you a chuckle to start your New Year off well!