“Aweh buddy! Wat se djy?” a guy shouts to another guy on the platform across the tracks.
“Duidelik my broe!” he shouts back with his thumbs up.
“Djy’s laat my ma se kin,” he continues shouting.
The guy on this side shrugs then shouts: “I got used to it. My laanie sê at least you’ve made it!” with his hands cupping his mouth.
That’s when the train from Kraaifontein to Cape Town abruptly interrupts the conversation as it enters the station. On board two ladies are in deep discussion about the colour of their hair … while I only have one shade of grey.
“My man sê hy gan mettie pries praat oo’ my wat my hare wil dye,” says one of the ladies to her friend next to her.
“Ek wonne wat kan die pries maak. What has your hair got to do with him?” the friend wants to know.
“Hy is oo ’n pries soes ’n pries nie oo hom issie. Pries moet als wiet,” she replies with big eyes.
“Dye djy jou hare en laat hom by die pries gaan bly as hy unhappy is,” the friend says sounding agitated.
“Exactly wat ek sê. He has worries of his own. Why be concerned about my hair?” she snaps back.
“So what is his affinity with the priest?” the friend wants to know.
“O, he’s our marriage counsellor… but ek dink hy’s nosy oek,” she reveals.
“Jou man moet sy kop lat lies,” the friend says even more agitated.
At Maitland station a whole bunch of commuters exit the carriage leaving just a few behind. The conversation continues.
“You know what? I grew up in a house with discipline and order. My father believes he is the priest, the judge and the jury. What he says goes; but also being fair and not judgemental. Today we are sitting with too many single parents and that is one of the reasons we are sitting with a generation who lacks discipline and refuses to submit to authority. You don’t have to look very far. It’s in the news all the time,” the friend explains without blinking an eye.
The lady who wants to dye her hair thinks for a moment and answers: “The problem is that my husband doesn’t know his father and sees in the priest the father he never had.”
“I can understand where he’s coming from,” she concludes.
The question comes to mind as we enter Salt River station …
What is a house without a father?
***
Urban Dictionary
duidelik – The Afrikaans word for “clear” used colloquially to mean “okay / alright”.
laanie – The Afrikaaps word for “boss / employer” also at times used to refer to any white person irrespective of whether they employ people or not.
mettie – The Afrikaaps version of “met die” which is Afrikaans for “with the”.
pries – The Afrikaaps version of “priester” which is the Afrikaans word for “priest”
wonne – The Afrikaaps version of “wonder” which is the same as the English word “wonder”.
oo’ – The Afrikaaps version of “oor” which is Afrikaans for “over / about”. Note that “oor” also means “ear” but in Afrikaaps when speaking of oor as ear the r is always used.
wiet – The Afrikaaps version of “weet” which is the Afrikaans word for “know”.
oek – The Afrikaaps version of “ook” which is Afrikaans for “also”.
lies -The Afrikaaps version of “lees” which is Afrikaans for “read”.
“My man sê hy gan mettie pries praat oo’ my wat my hare wil dye.”
“My husband says he is going to speak to the priest about me wanting to dye my hair.”
“Hy is oo ’n pries soes ’n pries nie oo hom issie. Pries moet als wiet”
“He is (concerned) over a priest just like (as much as) a priest is not (concerned) over him.”
“Dye djy jou hare en laat hom by die pries gaan bly as hy unhappy is.”
“You dye your hair and let him go live by the priest if he is unhappy”
“Jou man moet sy kop lat lies.”
“Your husband should have his head read.”