Well today was my third and last day at the licencing office. Monday I got as far as picking up my form and filling it in but the queues were ridiculous so headed home with the idea that if I am there at 7 am on Tuesday I can get it done quickly. So I got there at 7.10am and joined the queue. I was about 11 in the queue then went to do the eye test and came back to do the fingerprints etc etc etc. So they send me to the cashiers and – surprise – the computers are offline. They don’t know how long it will take but not less than an hour. So after sitting for a while I thought i’d go back today. So again I am there at 7.10am and this time I am probably about 20 in the queue but at least I just had to go to one place.
By 8am the one and only cashier finally sees the first person and i am too happy that the computers are online to even complain about there just being one cashier. In the meantime I started chatting to the guy in front of me. He was an African man probably in his late thirties early forties. What a pleasant man. We chatted about everything and anything. He was quite curious as to what my take was on certain things. Like why it seems that black people working with people seem to be ruder than white people. Why black people always seem unhappy, sad or even angry with the world. Why our government is spending so much money on road/city name changes when our country so badly needs more urgent things. Why people aren’t held accountable for their actions. What the biggest differences are in our cultures and how we can overcome things to stand together as a nation. How his wife was removed from her positions as a councillor after elections and how he is still waiting for answers. How something that seemed so simple to the people in power changed his life dramatically.
It was an amazing conversation to have and he was so insightful. He said things that made me think and question. Made me aware of so much more. I never got his name. I know he stays in Umlazi. Whoever you are and wherever you are. Thank you for making my sit in the queue enjoyable and interesting.
So I finally got my licence done. I have a temp licence for the time being and hopefully I can get my proper licence before the temp expires. That gives them about 6 months to get it right.
