Well I never!

I am back in South Africa for a visit. I'm supposed to be using this time to conduct some research and to complete my screenplay 'Savuti Love Story'. Somehow my daughter Candice managed to convince me to help her in her real estate business. I can't say I have any regrets. I could already fill a book with my interesting experiences while 'on the job'. If you've kept up on my blogs, you will have read about a few. This was one such experience...

Tuesday morning was a blistery cold morning. One of those days where I argued with myself about getting out of bed in the first place. In spite of the irritating ring of my alarm, I was tempted to stay under the covers for longer. Actually I can't say it was a conscious thought. I had already switched my alarm button off and I was too warmly wrapped up in my comforter to be giving anything much thought, much less that of rising. Thankfully, the puppy put paid to this by chewing on my ears and then tugging on my long hair. I groaned but finally yielded to her wake up calls and dragged myself out of bed.
And so begun my day. A day like any other.

On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, we have open hours where hundreds of Real Estate agents view properties that have just been listed for sale. I usually find this to be a lot of fun. Normally 4 or 5 of us will pile into a car and go chasing around our designated areas, to view as many properties as we can fit into our allotted time. This particular morning I was elected to be the group photographer. Since I took my job very seriously, this often meant that I was still snapping off shots when my fellow agents were already in the car and ready to leave.
Then I'd hear MC, our designated driver, calling out, "Shornti we're going...Where are you darling?" His accent giving my name an unusual sound.

We were running a little late at one point and when we arrived at one of the properties on show, I scrambled around looking for my camera in the car and my colleagues and my daughter went on ahead without me. Nevertheless, being the independent spirit that I am, I followed the pointer boards and eventually spotted the open gate leading into the garden of the property. It was beautifully landscaped and I stopped to snap off a few shots of the lovely garden with the unusual water feature. 'Hmmm this has a lovely feel to it.' I thought, 'We shouldn't have any problems selling it. I must be sure to take lots of shots for adverts.' 

When I entered into the house, I continued to snap off photographs from every conceivable angle. I did at that point notice that there was a woman seated on the sofa in the living room, watching over a small child playing on the carpet in front of her. I cheerfully greeted her and noted that she gawked at me as though I was an alien and had just stepped out of a flying saucer. I didn't really dwell on this though as I was a woman on a mission and I knew that I would soon hear someone call for me to leave. I walked through the living room and snapped photographs in each of the bedrooms, the bathrooms and finally in the kitchen. I walked back through the living room to go back to the car and I thanked the woman before saying goodbye. She didn't say a word but continued to stare at me with a vacant look in her eyes, mouth hanging wide open. Her behaviour seemed a little peculiar and I wondered if perhaps she was mentally challenged. I was still puzzling this as I walked back out the garden gate to find my daughter looking a little irritated "Mom where HAVE you been?" Just then MC and Chris rounded the corner, clearly leaving another townhouse and it hit me. I had just walked through the wrong place.

It just goes to show that if you're confident and act like you're supposed to be there, almost anyone will let you walk through their homes. In South Africa where security is a key issue, this is nothing short of amazing. 

Perhaps my next career move should be 'cat burglar' lol

Chanti / May 2007