Here is a story that I hope is in the feel good vein contemplated in this community. It was last year, round about this time of the year when my day to the Johannesburg Airport began. It began like any other day in my routine; waking up at 4am, a quick but thorough shower, smoking a cigarette on the balcony and a strong cup of coffee - no sugar.
View from my then balcony in Polokwane.
I headed to our offices in Polokwane before my four hour drive to the airport. I arrived at the office at 6am, as usual. My business partner was already there waiting to discuss a few items before I left. We delved into the items one after the the other. After what seemed like a few minutes of intense planning, we were finally done. I took a glance at the digital clock on my desk for the first time since I entered the office. The big neon-like digits displayed 08:35. In a somewhat controlled panic, I took my phone out of my blazer to confirm, the time corresponded. The panic in my eyes was now visible as my partner enquired "what's wrong bro?". I looked at him dead in his widely opened dark brown eyes in response " shit man! I'm running late! I should have left an hour ago".
I now had to make a four hour trip in just three hours. I hurried to my car with laptop clutched under my right arm and my laptop bag slung over my other shoulder.
I made my way through the morning city traffic while murmuring things I can't remember and cussing at slow drivers on the road. Poor drivers, it wasn't their fault that I was running late. I made it on the highway a few minutes later and went full throttle. I arrived at the Johannesburg Airport with thirty minutes to spare, this of course, after accumalting numerous speeding tickets along the way.
I proceeded to park on the wrong space at the airport and my car wss clamped as I was hauling my luggage to one of the myriad building entrances. I lost twenty minutes and five hundred bucks getting the car unclamped and navigating to the correct parking area. I didn't appreciate the cost of having a car at that moment, and would have probably sold it there and there for half it's worth if I didn't have to rush on to the plane. Five minutes to go before the close the gates. I scurried past bewildered travellers while pleading "excuse me! - may I pass!", followed with a "thank you" without turning my head as I vanished into the boarding terminals. Finally the last to board, I made in the plane - heaving and sweating. All eyes curiously studied this strange individual as I located my seat.
A view from the car that accumulated 3 speeding tickets on the way to the airport.
A view from the airport terminal on a better day.
We arrived at the Cape Town Airport two hours later. I was asleep the entire flight. I hope I did not snore. The generous smile and gracious "goodbye" from the lady I was seated next to on the flight encouraged me to think I wasn't a terrible flight companion, that I did not snore. Nevertheless, I still dread the vulnerability of sleeping in public, especially on a plane. Anything could happen during a plane flight. The plane could be falling while I sleep, or worse, I could snore!
After disembarking, I headed to where all junkies like me head after a few hours of traveling, the nearest coffee shop, I followed the aroma. The next stop was the designated smoking area. With coffee in had and puffing my cigarette, I planned my next trip, a 45 minute drive to my meeting at the medical cannabis cultivation center.
I arrived thirty minutes ahead of schedule. Daniel, my host, offered me their best coffee brew as I waited for him to finish preparing for my tour of the facility. This coffee fiend never declines an offer, I would finish the entire pot if they let me.
I was there to conduct a case study on medical cannabis facilities for a project I was working on with my business partner. After putting on our protective gear, we went through the maze of stages that the plants go through from seedlings until reaching the final flowering stage, just before harvest. The facility had a built and hygiene of a medical centre, no cross contamination is allowed.
Images from the facility and my gracious host and tour guide, Daniel.
After the lenggty tour of the facility, I was taken to an on-site coffee shop that had other offerings. Besides a tasty lunch and all the coffee I could gulp, I was also offered some recreational marijuana, to sample their hard work. I still had a forty-five minute drive back to the hotel near the airport, so I graciously declined the smoke. But my host insisted that I take a joint with me to enjoy later. I obliged and soon took my leave. I arrived at the hotel just before the evening. I took my laptop out and began preparing my report. Iater went on the balcony and enjoyed some coffee and a cigarette before heading to bed.
Images from the coffee shop at the cannabis facility
Having coffee at the hotel
My return flight to Johannesburg was booked for 10am. I woke up at 4am as usual, did some work between breakfast and coffee and more coffee before I left for the airport.
I could not fathom, for all the sanity in me, why I was rushing through the airport again with my flight leaving in the next ten minutes. It felt like a bad déja vu dream. "How did I get here again" I muttered in agony at myself as I begged people to let me pass through. I made it on the plane, sweating and heaving, again!
The flight back to Johannesburg was uneventful. I slept through the entire flight. Back at my apartment in Johannesburg, I began unpacking my travel bag. To my shock and dismay, I discovered the weed joint I had tossed in there after my meeting in Cape Town. It wasn't the weed that shocked me, but that I had unwittingly broken the law by taking the weed on my flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg. Although it is legal to smoke weed in the privacy of your home, you were neither allowed to smoke it in public nor travel with it, especially on a national flight. A very strange law, but yes, I broke it.
After all was said and done, it felt good that my trip was successful besides my late arrivals at either airport. Furthermore, I also didn't get arrested for traveling with weed, it felt good to get away with this little indiscretion. The good feeling was further increased by some coffee and a few puffs of that good shit.
View from my balcony in Johannesburg.
Thank you for reading this blog. You'll be glad to know that I've since quit smoking cigarettes, but my relationship with coffee seems unbreakable. All the images here were taken with my Android phone.