We
lived up a steep hill from the Congo-Cross roundabout. Our compound was at the top and had a beautiful but partially obstructed view of
Freetown and the harbor. It was quite spectacular. Each day the way the sunlight hit the water was unique creating new sparkling views. In addition to the
water and the palm trees we also overlooked hundreds corrugated metal roofs
slowly rusting in the humid salty air. We had lived in this location for
about a year but I still had not captured a clear view of tropical Freetown. So I decided to walk down the road where I knew I could get a clear shot. With my Cannon digital
camera in hand, I started out for a short strip of sidewalk just down the road. Reaching the area with the view and quite
possibly only 200 feet of paved sidewalk in all of Sierra Leone, I started to
plan my shot unaware at first of the man walking towards me. Becoming aware, I realized it was Oscar, the guy with the mental illness who was regularly
sifting through the rubbish bins.
I had a choice to share
the narrow sidewalk with him or to quickly cross back over to the other side
of the road and delay taking my picture until a more opportune time. This was risky because there was very little shoulder along the far side of the road. Nevertheless, I darted
across the road to avoid a potential confrontation. As I looked back to see if Oscar had noticed my sudden change of route, he looked at me and then suddenly stopped to squat down and then proceeded poop on the sidewalk in broad daylight! Once I realized what he was doing I thought “Oh
man! Did you just do what I think you did? And was it really necessary to poop on the only decent piece
of sidewalk in the whole freaking town?” Apparently it was.
By now I had become numb to people urinating in public. They peed on the sides of buildings, in the gutters along the streets or anyplace that was convenient. It was such a common problem that when you saw a cement wall it often had the phrase “Pis nor irr” painted along its length to discourage such behavior. Up until that moment I had never seen anyone “drop trou” mid stride and go #2 on the sidewalk with an audience. This was totally alarming.
By now I had become numb to people urinating in public. They peed on the sides of buildings, in the gutters along the streets or anyplace that was convenient. It was such a common problem that when you saw a cement wall it often had the phrase “Pis nor irr” painted along its length to discourage such behavior. Up until that moment I had never seen anyone “drop trou” mid stride and go #2 on the sidewalk with an audience. This was totally alarming.
Once Oscar had finished his business,
he continued on his way and I, determined to get my shot crossed back over to the freshly decorated sidewalk and completed my mission. And quite
a sight it was too, one I’ll never forget!
