When I left the Awoko newsroom a few days ago with my newly-purchased food container in my hand, I got a strange look and useful comment as I headed out the door.
“You can’t go in the street with that,” my coworker said. “You can’t have people knowing that you’re going to get food with that.”
It took me a few seconds to attempt to comprehend what he was trying to tell me, but then I remembered an instance when I was east of Cotton Tree, downtown in the thick of a bustling shop-filled street. With people all around, especially people who want to get things at any deal they can, I was told by my friend to watch my things. People are clever and may want to try to nab something of mine that could benefit them. As a white person, I stand out more as both a target and as someone who could potentially have more to take.
Personally, I’ve seen how friendly Sierra Leoneans are and I’m not too worried most of the time about my safety or that of my property. When I walk to work in the morning, for example, I put most of what I need for the day—my rain jacket, sunglasses, water bottle, and some snacks—inside my red backpack, but I carry my laptop in its case in my hands. I don’t worry that it’s visible for everyone to see because I know that pretty much everyone I’ve met has been friendly and seemingly unthreatening.
That’s during the majority of the day, of course, and during the night I tread more carefully. That’s why I often ensure that my valuables are somewhere safe before I go out for any nightly extracurricular activities. The night provides an advantage over me to anyone who would be likely to try to nab something of mine and it’s not worth the risk to me.
But, when I do go out on the town in the evening, I strive to limit my belongings to a minimum so that I can keep everything in the pockets of my clothes, where I can keep them close to my body and feel any disturbances.
I’ve already written about my disdain for the plethora of black plastic bags that I’ve seen around the city, and I’ve finally discovered the reasoning behind it. Since that realization, I’ve also seen many more instances of people walking around on the street with black plastic bags at in their hand. While many people have backpacks of their own to use as the same vessel to safeguard their property, there is still a prominent number of people that solely use the same plastic bags that I’ve mentioned. Of course, those plastic bags are probably the same ones that end up in the drainage ditches on the sides of the road.
Nowadays, whenever I go out somewhere to eat and bring my sealable bowl with me, I never forget to put it into a plastic bag.
Thus far, I’ve used the same black bag and I will continue to use the same one until it breaks. Even when that happens, with how often I’m handed a black bag, I already have a stockpile of black polyethylene bags ready to use. This way, I hope to sustainably conform to this odd cultural practice while still keeping everything I carry around with me, whether they be groceries or food, safe and to myself.
Jack Russillo is a reporter from the University of Washington who will be writing for Awoko through the end of September.
By Jack Russillo
Wednesday July 04, 2018.
ADVERTISEMENT