Item No. 837 on the list of “Odd and Random Experiences of Life in South Africa”: Today my use of a tambourine led to a woman being ejected from the homeless shelter where I spend four mornings a week. Before breakfast and lunch each day, we sing songs of worship and hear a short message from the Bible. Most days there's no musical accompaniment, so I’ll bang the tambourine to at least keep a semblance of a beat. This time as I sat on the back row and played, a lady turned around, looked straight at me and said, “SHUT … UP!”
I was startled but kept on playing. She glared at me again, then when the song was over, she shouted to the manager (who was leading the singing), “Can we stop the tambourine? I hate the noise!” He told her if she disrupted again, he would ask her to leave. “You don’t have to ask me! I’ll go on my own!” she said. She gathered her belongings and stomped toward the door, then stopped for one last word aimed at me: “At least I won’t have to hear his tambourine anymore!”
The manager told me later that this woman tends to make trouble when she’s been drinking, and that was likely the case today.
Obviously you can’t please everybody. Not even at a homeless shelter on a cold rainy day …
1 comment:
Some people just don't like contemporary praise and worship! I wish we could use the drinking reason for church people who don't like it over here either...
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