Observations from an Outsider

Taking a lift doesn’t sound like a particularly interesting experience; it also doesn’t sound like a particularly long one.

However, when four out of eight lifts in a building with 26 floors in a country full of lazy people are not working, then it can be a rather long and amusing trip (equally, it can be a painful and annoying one, but let’s – as they say - look on the bright side… )

What makes this simple journey, which can easily take fifteen minutes (!), interesting are the people that join you: Caterers delivering yummy snacks; Goldman Sachs consultants in posh personalised shirts; ten cleaning ladies with ten different ways of doing their head-scarves; medical staff transporting blood transfusions; women, who were recently stuck in a lift, and are now scared; and men who simply cannot stop talking about that the lifts will break and crash.

Here’s a typical conversation on the journey down... sadly I cannot capture the best part of it, the life and soul of the conversation – the intonation. So by all means, imagine it, be creative, go all out – chances are its still nowhere close :)

Boitumelo: How’s it?
Nthabiseng: Sharp.

Boitumelo: Sharp sharp. Mme o ya toropong.
Nthabiseng: (laughs)

Boitumelo: Ke a mo tseba empa ha a ntsebe.
Nthabiseng: Issss it?

Boitumelo: O a bona hore pula e a na...
Nthabiseng: Ohhh

Boitumelo: Ba ba buletse leha ba ne ba se ba kwetse!
Nthabiseng: Sssserious?

Boitumelo: Basadi ha ba a hlatswe!
Nthabiseng: Aaishh!

Boitumelo: Tau ha e lome nyamatsane.
Nthabiseng: Ohhh… okaaaayyy

Boitumelo: Le hloka ho potlaka hore le fihle ka nako
Nthabiseng: Ookaaay

Boitumelo: Tonki ha e a tsamaye.
Nthabiseng: Sharp.
Boitumelo: Sharp sharp.

By now, the lift has reached the 15th floor and Boitumelo gets off. Fortunately Thabsile enters and a very similar conversation starts...

Sharp.

Sharp sharp.