Breaking the First Rule of Thumb

The first thing you learn as a child – after, of course, “don’t put that in your mouth” and “just say NO”—is “Don’t get into cars with strangers”. Oops. But, of course, behind every major mess-up in my life, there is a majorly hilarious tale to be told. Hence, allow me to amuse you. Last Sunday, as you may have read, I spotted a young female runner as I was searching for less-boring routes and asked her where she was coming from. She told me about a time trial 5k every Wednesday at 6 pm at the Rondebosch Commons with the Celtics running club. I convinced my running buddy Mariah to run there with me (about a 10 minute run away) to do the trial.

It was quite fun, and I was excstatic when, after the race, we met up with the young runner that I had seen the week before. Her name is Nikki, and she and 4 of her friends run on Wednesdays. They were so friendly and sincerely interested in what we were doing here and how we were getting by. The club had announcements and a prize drawing…therewas a man there in the most outlandish, but fabulous, track suit I have ever seen…anyway, by that point, I was so excited by our new find that I could talk about nothing but how we had to add this to our weekly schedule on our way running back home.

About a quarter mile from home, I was about to tell Mariah about running in Florence with my keys everyday when we both realized: I didn’t have my keys with me. I had put them in a small key collection cubby before we started the trial so I wouldn’t have to run with them.

We sprinted back a mile to the commons where we found a desolate plain of grass and no runners in track suits to be found. I saw a couple men in running gear and asked them if they knew how I could get a hold of the club. One of the men, who we later found out is named Andrew, offered to give us a lift to the club house without hesitation. Now you must understand, at this point, I had conflicting motives. The do’s and don’ts of life just continue to grow as you get older and although I knew “never get in cars with strangers”, I couldn’t help but think about “Never lose your keys, especially if they have private information on them”.

So, of course I responded, “Oh my gosh. That would be so great!”. To tell you the truth, the only thing that seemed somewhat strange was the fact that he entered the driver’s side on the right.

Andrew drove us 15 minutes down the road to the club house, all the while talking to us and telling us about South Africa and his life in Durban. When we got to the club house, the club captains were out and, to make matters worse, Andrew’s phone lost battery suddenly. So, of course, Andrew had to give me rand to use the pay phone line and had to help us search to find a number to call. When no one picked up, I left a message and we got back into the car to drive back.

On the way out of the club, we ran into Andrew’s wife’s (Cindy, is her name) friend and the friend’s kids. It was quite comical really to be waving awkwardly in the car as Andrew rolled down the window and said, in the most nonchalant tone I’ve heard, “Oh yeh, Bren heah has lahst heh keys sow we ah trah-ying to git her sowted owt.” Then, Andrew found out that his long time friend was coaching the rugby team playing on the field so we stopped to wave to him as well. I wonder what Cindy thought about all of this.Andrew drove us all the way back to the commons even though he lived in the other direction and then Mariah and I ran home and arrived at 8:15 pm. We had left at 5:45. I told Charles of what happened, and I was let into my apartment the master-key man…named Andrew. Thank god for all of you Andrews out there.

I ran to the clubhouse tonight, a little over 3 miles away in a different part of town. I had contacted them beforehand and was supposed to meet the club captain who has my keys, but he was stuck in a meeting. It rained for the first time since we’ve been here this evening so, by the time I arrived I was sopping. When I found out the captain would not be in, I made arrangements to retrieve my keys from him later and was about to head out the door when the nice woman at the desk told me I should not be running in that area of town holding my phone (I had brought it in case I got lost on the way). So, she made me put it in a little plastic baggie and safety pin it to my shorts. She looked very worried. It felt like a long run home in the rain.

So, although I don’t have my keys, I’ve met many very kind people on the way to finding them. It’s amazing the friends you make when you’re desperately in need.

This is where Mariah and I ran a few evenings ago (after following 3 men who looked like they knew where they where). We were so excited to find such a beautiful place. It is a memorial to English-born South African politician Cecil John Rhodes (1853-1902).

The inscription on the monument is "To the spirit and life work of Cecil John Rhodes who loved and served South Africa". Along with that, there is a stanza from the 1902 poem Burial by Rudyard Kipling in honour of Rhodes. It quite enchanted me.

The immense and brooding spirit still,

Shall quicken and control.

Living he was the land, and dead,

His soul shall be her soul.

And this was the view looking out onto Cape Town from the memorial. We were speechless.