When I Was
When I was in America.
It can be a fact or an intention to brag. It might be a fact that you went to Harlem in New York to experience the Abyssinian Baptist Church and Apollo Theater or you flew to Georgia to see former plantations where slaves toiled and died.
It becomes bragging if you say it once a day, every day of the week. Much as humans tend to gravitate towards each other like geese in a pond, they also want to stand out, to be different. That’s why some individuals dress differently, drive cars that set them apart or marry the prettiest girl on the block or village.
When I was in America. We'll use it in this piece to represent travel. Travel is a privilege because not everybody can afford it, whether it is filling up the car and driving to the next province or flying there. Domestic flights are also cheap, but that is relative.
What is cheap to me, might be unattainable to you. Travel needs money and some families resort to robbery. They stay in hotels for free after claiming they want to check out because there are bedbugs in their rooms. Receptionists know the trick.
When I was in America is self aggrandizement of the highest order because it is said in another part of the world. Individuals that make the statement are indirectly telling listeners that they are different. They can travel.
By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.
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