Driving here in Dakar continues to be a deep well of opportunity for cultural experiences. A few weeks ago I was heading home from some errands with the kids when I was once again pulled over by a traffic cop. It is hard to explain this here, but I was pulled over for crossing between two paved roads through this little packed down path of sand about 5 meters long. This path is well worn down because (and I don’t think I am exaggerating here) thousands of cars drive over it every day. There is no sign saying it is illegal to make this cross over. It is not paved, but most roads here aren’t so that doesn’t mean much. And you can see the worn in path because so many people drive it. If you are familiar with the term “desire path”, “social trail” or “cow trail” this is much like that, only with vehicle traffic rather than foot traffic.
Anyways, on this particular day there was a cop sitting right next to this path and he pulled me over and was insistent that what I did was illegal. As I sat there I counted more than 25 cars drive past me on the same path, but that didn’t deter him. So he wrote me a ticket and took my license which meant I would need to go downtown the following day to get it back. I will admit that it was one of those days when I was just feeling frustrated with some of the everyday struggles of living in Dakar, particularly with driving. So after this happened I confess I was far from being in a cheerful mood or having an attitude of gratefulness.
Anyway, the next day I went downtown after work to the police station to get my license back. This is the third time I have done this and each visit has been a totally unique experience. This time when I walked in, the place was practically empty. Usually there are about 40 guys sitting in the lot also trying to get their licenses back, but this time I saw only one other guy there. So I walked up to a police officer and asked him where I needed to go. He pointed me in the direction of an office, but before I could go another officer came up and asked me for my ticket. This is a rough recollection of how our conversation went from there:
Cop: Ahh, the athlete!
Me (while laughing totally confused): Huh, who is saying that?
Cop: I am!
Me: (still laughing uncomfortably while having no idea what he is talking about) Ah ok. I do try and stay in shape.
Cop: Yeah I see you running every morning.
Me: What? Really?
Cop: Yeah in Hann Maristes (the neighborhood where we live)!
From there he went on to tell me how he also lives in Hann Maristes and regularly sees me out running in the morning near his house and near where he takes his taxi every morning to come to work. In a city of more than three million people these types of encounters are very rare as you’d imagine so I was totally shocked. We ended up chatting for a few minutes and exchanged names and I told him to yell at me next time he sees me out running!
He then went into an office (a different one than where my license had been the previous two times so I still have no idea what their system is) and brought me back my license and told me I didn’t need to pay anything. All in all I was at the police station for probably less than 10 minutes which absolutely smashes my previous record at this station!
This experience felt like such a pointed gift from God after the mood I had been in the day before. I left the police station thankful for having the opportunity to be there that day and make this new connection. It’s a good reminder to me that God is at work in all the small details of our lives and that when I hold too tightly to my expectations/desires/timetable, I risk missing what God has for me in that moment, whether that be something to learn, an opportunity to grow or a new relationship to form. I am thankful I serve a God who doesn’t rely on me getting it right in order for Him to accomplish His plans. And I am sure I will have another opportunity like this (i.e. get another ticket) in the not too distant future 😀
– Adam