The Reluctant African
Written by: Ato Quayson
Image By: Joram Jojo
The discovery was made at the transit lounge of Schipol Airport in Amsterdam, when McFante, innocently assuming that the well-fed gentleman sitting beside him was as bored as he was with waiting, decided to start a conversation about Ghana. There was no doubt that he was Ghanaian (McFante could always tell these things, even though he had been away from home for quite a long time), so he struck up what he knew always resonated with Ghanaians abroad. “Going to see the family, eh?” he chirped pleasantly. The man turned to him with a look of utter disdain, and instead of replying directly to the question said, “You have to take off your gloves when you are indoors, you know.” It was winter time and McFante had decided long ago not to take chances with the cold weather, inside or out. He wanted all parts of his body to die at the same time, and not for certain parts to freeze to death while the rest stayed painfully alive. So he always wore his gloves wherever he went. He felt a degree of resentment at what he saw as uncalled for airs, but let curiosity take the better part of his judgement and decided to take off the gloves to enable further conversation… Continue reading…
