Street Merchants
Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
February 2016
I’ve travels so much and I’ve purchased so much stuff in my
lifetime that shopping no longer interests me.
I don’t want any more stuff but I do like to wander the markets just to
talk to the merchants. I like to hear their stories. I find women merchants to
be less aggressive than their male counterparts. I will find that the men
sometimes resort to a little bit of dominance just to win a customer’s
purchase.
A group of male merchants are sitting under a tree, taking a
rest from their boring day. There are no
customers so they sit under the tree to talk. I walk over and try to engage
them in conversation. We greet each
other with hellos and welcomes and blessings to your health and to your family. One man steps forward and begins to talk to
me.
“You like Obama? I like Bush. When Bush is president we have war and war is
good for me. Maybe not for you but when we have war, more people run away but
not me. I stay behind and take all their things. I make money. I like Daddy
Bush and Baby Bush and maybe we will get another Bush next. That will be good for me. I hope so”, he
tells me with a broad smile that is so charming, its hard to get annoyed with
him.
I tell him that Jeff Bush just dropped out of the race. He
seems sad to hear the news. He wants to know if someone else who likes war will
run and be elected in the United States.
“Not like Obama who does not like to fight. I want war president.
It is good for me.”
I tell him there are plenty of other Republican candidates
who could step in and start a war. The
other six men, sitting with us, are fans of Obama and laugh out loud with
delight as I pretended vomit at the mention of another Bush as president.
“I can’t believe you
like Bush. The rest of the world hates Bush”, I tell him.
“You like Obama. I like Bush. OK, we are different” he says
confidently. The crowd boos him and he
laughs uproariously. I pretend to vomit again.
“Okay madam, I joke with you. I love Obama. He is Kenyan and
I am Kenyan. We are brothers. He is my
brother. I do not like Bush. He is no good for us. I am with Obama, just like
you”. He offers me a high-five and walks away so pleased with himself for
getting me so rattled.
