An Afternoon Helping a Friend Accomplish Nothing...

I spent the afternoon with A. (I have shared about him with some of you before. I'm not gonna use his name here.) He has his own business. He and his employees collect trash. Last Friday I was supposed to meet with him and T. (This is another friend most of you have heard of.) A. called to cancel. He said he had a problem with his business. Today he shared with me what it was.

First let me tell you why we were together and how the day went...it was so extremely typical. He called me because he had found a computer he wanted to buy. The problem was he didn't know what all they were telling him about it. I ended up with a second job once I got here; I do lots of computer work for friends and coworkers. I was to meet A. at 3.

I called at 3 to tell him I was running late but would be there shortly. When I got the meeting place, I couldn't find him. I called, and called, and called. Bad mobile week, none of them are working right. Finally I got him and found out he was down the road in an internet café. I met him there and when he finished we left and started down the road.

As we were walking he filled me in on the business stuff (be patient it's coming). We got down the road and he looked in a café and said, "We can get something to drink." They always tend to offer it as an option rather than saying, "hey I'm thirsty you want a drink." We hung out there for several minutes and chatted about the business (hold on) and the computers. Come to find out he has two options and wants me to check them out. One is near us and the other is in another part of the city and when that guy calls we will go see it.

We finish the drinks and leave for the first computer...the opposite direction we have been walking. For some reason I still don't understand we went the wrong way quite a ways and stopped to have a drink. Then we turned and went back the right way. When we got there I thought we were lost. We walked down this little alleyway to the back of a building. We climbed some stairs too skinny for fat guys and went in a little room. There was a business hidden back there, I asked how he ever found it. All I got in response was, "a friend."

We walked in to find the waiting room girl. I guess that was her job, she didn't do much else. The man we needed to see wasn't there. We waited. After about thirty minutes we got up and left. (The whole time I was singing a song stuck in my head. A few problems: 1. It is in their language. 2. I only knew two words. Actually I only remembered two words and I only knew what one of them meant. After asking I found out I was singing, "the girl is beautiful." 3. Many believers here believe secular music keeps one from the kingdom. Bad translation coming in Galatians. (I think I've mentioned this before.)) A. said the guy would call later when he got back.

Remember we are also still waiting on the other guy to call. Now it is almost 5. In two hours we have accomplished nothing we wanted to get done. While waiting for the calls we went for macchiatos. At 5:30 he told me he had to go to another meeting. Therefore we spent 2 hours getting nothing done. We'll try again tomorrow or the next day. This is exactly how this culture goes.

The good thing is, I got to spend great time with a friend I haven't seen in a couple weeks. It sure made it worth it for me.

Now about his work (You thought I forgot, didn't you?). Seems the government has decided to fight unemployment and poverty here. Great idea, since some 12-13 million live in starvation and I've heard unemployment is at around 70%.

Here is what they want to do. They have heard about A's. job and have decided it is a great thing for unemployed to get into. It takes little training and/or education. They gathered together the 60 people or so that have this type of business. They told them they are going to split their business into twelve parts. The current owner gets 1/12 of the business. The other 11/12 is going to be split and worked by these people who are without jobs.

In other words they want to steal almost all of A's. business for the sake of providing jobs. The owners are fighting to protect their business and are encouraging the government to start similar businesses if they want. They are okay with the competition, and they want to see jobs offered; they just don't want to lose their own livelihood.

There are elections in May. In A's. opinion, this is a ploy for votes. They are claiming 10,000 need work; that adds up to a lot of votes.

They think they have nearly solved the problem, but it isn't over yet. Lift him and his family and their business up if you don't mind.

It's almost 9. I gotta go eat. As long as the bread isn't green yet it will be another pb&j night.