Communication Breakdown- Part 478

I’m just going to detail you a classic Saturday for me.

So I’m the basketball coach and we had the regional championship match on Saturday. When I asked about what time the game started, I got an answer similar to one you might receive from a cable company coming to fix your cable. “Yeah, we think the game might start between 9am and 2pm”. Great, that narrows it down. So I decide to give permission (students are not allowed to come to my house) to the captain of the team to come and knock on my door when they were leaving for the game.

7:45am- The first students (none of which were the captain) knock on my door to tell me that we are leaving “soon” and they wanted to make sure that I was ready. I blurrily thanked them and sent them away.

8:00am- A close friend from back home calls me and I call her back 20 minutes later.

8:21am- The captain and 2 other players knock on my door and I hang up the phone. They tell me that we are leaving in 30 minutes to go to the game. Thanks for the second news flash.

8:45am- I switch over on the phone to the dullest knife in the drawer sports director calling me to tell me that the team is leaving at 9am for the game. I say to myself yeah right, and call my friend back.

9:15am- Someone is knocking on my door again and I figure it really is time to go and hang up the phone. I answer my door to the captain telling me that its umuganda (where every citizen has to clean the country, enforced by law) and we aren’t leaving for another 2 hours. I call my friend back.

9:40am- The captain knocks on my door again saying that the team is leaving now. I tell them that I’m going to finish up my phone call and come. I open the door 10 minutes later to realize that they have been sitting on my step listening to my conversation, waiting for me to go.

10:30am- It takes us about an hour to walk the 5k to where the match is. I can make the trek in a lot less time but Rwandese like to casually stroll everywhere.

noon- The coach of the other team shows up to tell us that his team isn’t coming and they forfeit. My team is a little bummed and so I run a full practice at the court and we hang around to watch the boys football match.

1:30pm- The athletic association decides that the other team can’t just forfeit the championship, that would be wrong (this is a very Rwandese answer) and make the other coach go get his team.

4:00pm- My kids and I are exhausted from a full practice and baking in the equator sun for 7 straight hours. Did I mention we were starting the game now.

5:15pm- We win the game by 2 points.