Debbie

At North Beach in Durban Debbie worked as a car guard. All the years I lived in Durban I went to North Beach most mornings at daybreak to catch a few early morning waves before work. 

I took great care to ensure that I parked in the section of the parking lot that Debbie guarded. We would always have a pleasant little chat whilst I changed before and after hitting the water.

Debbie was loved by many of the surfers who frequented North Beach. She had an earthiness and gentleness about her that made her easy and pleasant to engage in conversation. 

Debbie worked for a group of car guards who called themselves the Guardian Angels. Not  only did she make sure our cars were always safe, she also kept our car keys which of course you could not take with you into the sea. I regarded Debbie as a special person who made a positive contribution to my every day life.

Debbie had a tough life apparent from the many years of hardship etched on her face. But she always held her head high and welcomed all those who parked in her area with a warm and friendly smile. I don't know much about her history. She once eluded to having been addicted to drugs at some point, but I don't know the details and she clearly overcame that, which must have been quite a painful struggle.

My mother always used to say it does not matter what you do in life as long as you do it properly. And that was what Debbie did. She made a respectable career out of watching cars from which she earned enough to live independently. I gladly paid Debbie every morning since she rendered a service I needed and valued.

One particular morning I got out of the sea to find Debbie very much in a state of distress. In fact she was near to a complete panic. I enquired as to what went wrong? Debbie explained that one of the surfers arrived earlier with his laptop and asked if she would watch it whilst he was in the sea. She felt really uncomfortable since she does not normally take care of laptops, but obliged since it was one of her regular customers who that day for some reason arrived without his car.

She carried the laptop in her arms, but at some point she got really busy and the laptop started feeling very heavy.  She decided to put the laptop down on the back of the bakkie of another customer for a few minutes to just give her arms a break. A few cars further up one of her other customers was leaving and Debbie directed him out of his parking bay. 

And it was exactly at that moment that the owner of the bakkie returned and reversed out of his parking bay. As Debbie turned around from directing her other customer, she saw the bakkie driver driving off with the laptop on the back of his bakkie. Debbie ran screaming and waiving after him, but he was totally oblivious and off he went, unknowingly taking the laptop with him.

Poor Debbie. "What am I gonna say to him" she kept saying over and over. "That laptop costs more than I earn in a month. I am never  going to be able to repay him." 

My heart ached for her. She was so upset and there was nothing much I could do to help her.

I got dressed and went for my coffee at the Wimpy. On my return Debbie had a big smile and looked visibly relieved. It turns out the  bakkie driver noticed the laptop when he arrived home. He immediately drove back to the beach to enquire from Debbie if she knew anything about the laptop.

This all happened before the owner of the laptop finished his surf. By the time he did so, Debbie could with a sigh of relief hand his laptop back to him, he being none the wiser to the recent loss and recovery thereof.  

So I asked from Debbie after all that stress how much did she get paid for looking after the laptop? To which she rather disgustedly replied "R2 thats it"! That was all she got for all the pain and agony she had just been through.

That made me think how often do we take on other people's  problems which knowing very well we should not do? Is it not exactly those professional favours we do, the work for free or at greatly reduced rates that often comes back to haunt us?

Going into the new year I remember the lesson learnt from Debbie and the laptop incident. I will in the year ahead take more care to avoid taking on problems that I should not.

I recently visited Durban and was saddened to learn that Debbie has since passed away. I will always miss her welcoming smile at North Beach, but fortunately the lessons we learn from those we have blessed encounters  with, continue to live in our hearts forever.