An African moment

This afternoon I was doing some filming work in a park. My brother and I placed our bags on a bench slightly away from where we were filming. We were filming and getting along with our work when I noticed a guy who was walking around the benches near our bags. The guy did a second lap around the benches with our bags on. The African neurosis in me began to think "He is trying to get close to our bags - to take them or to see what is in them". I opened my mouth and told my brother (who was closer to the bench than I was) to keep an eye on the bags! I said it out loud, in English.

As he walked past us (and the bags) the guy sighed and shook his head! I do not know whether he understood what I had said in English or whether he was just expressing frustration or disagreement with something else. My brother laughed, thinking that if the guy had understood what I said, that he may have disliked what I had said. Europeans are not used to crime I guess. They do not have to worry about leaving their possessions somewhere and those same possessions being stolen. I felt a little guilty but in Africa we are trained to keep our ears and eyes open all the time as things happen if you are not "wakker". Only in Africa I guess. I am still very much an African. Is it so unkind to be weary of suspicious people hanging around near your possessions ??? I think not...