My Encounter with America
Part 4: Embarrassed in a restaurant
By Zadok Ekimwere
zomwere@hotmail.com

My second day in America started out much better. My whole group, Christened Young African Leaders Forum, had arrived in New York. They were a powerful mix of 43 African journalists. The first day was for orientation: to get ground rules, sort out administrative matters, and housekeeping issues to make our stay enjoyable. We were categorically told we must give a reasonable tip after every service rendered anywhere. And we were warned against taking the "Zadok adventure," which led to his arrest within the first hour of arrival.

The last item was the most important: money, moreover in dollars for the first time for most of us. The arrangement was that we would be paid every two weeks. For convenience of logistics, we were split into groups of twos or threes, depending on interest and background. Mine of three, consisted of print media journalists from Mauritius, Kenya, and Uganda.

Lining up like casual laborers, we signed for our per diem with strong advice to immediately go to the bank and buy travelers' cheques. We could not fathom why.

In Africa amidst risks from thugs, people delight in carrying wads of cash in public places to show pecuniary power. For instance, one would go to a shopkeeper and ask for just one stick of cigarettes or a bottle of soda, which cost less than 60 cents and then shell out a big bill of say 50,000 shillings to silence the shopkeeper and anyone around with this power.

One participant, Dawara (not real name) created hell for the organizers. He demanded all his per diem for all three months, reasoning that as a journalist he knew how to take care of his money. He even threatened that if his demand was not met, he would rather go back to Africa. After some consultations, the organizers decided to pay Dawara all his allowance.

Dawara did not only refuse to go to the bank to buy travelers' cheques, but he also decided he could tour the US on his own. He boasted that he had been to the US countless times before, carrying thousands of dollars. When we tried to intervene by politely requesting him to be compliant, he shut us up. He called us all sorts of names, and said we were behaving like beggars, not journalists. With that Dawara was let to have his way.

On the way to the bank to buy travelers' cheques, I saw very well- made suits in a shop. I dashed in and asked for one. Instead, the shop attendant asked me if I worked in a hotel or if I owned one because those suits were for hotel staff. I retreated unceremoniously and never told anybody that story.

After buying cheques we were shown a Mexican restaurant whose menu resembled African dishes, and was cheap too. But it was quite tiny, managed by a Chinese woman. So we had to dine in shifts.

My group went in last. As soon as the lady saw us, she took off ranting in Chinese. And in a flash of a second we saw a pool of steaming water streaming towards us. We had to flee. When we reported the incident to our organizers, the feedback was very embarrassing.

Despite the orientation briefing, the lady was not tipped after each shift. This made her mad with those eaters from Africa who were so irresponsible they could not part with a dime. To save face, we collected some money and gave it to our guide to take to her with the excuses that we did not have coins at the time for tips. Luckily enough we started our tours the next morning and escaped from the ugly situation.

(Next week: American

ignorance about Africa)