"Robert, meet us down by the stadium and we may have good news for you." With that, I hopped on the park and ride bus towards Royal Bafokeng Starium in Rustenburg. The USA Ghana game was only 90 minutes away.
Robert had driven me, along with 7 or 8 friends, in his van, to three different USA games around the Johannesburg area. During the drives, I had bonded with Robert. We had hours to talk about what guys talk about on road trips - women, soccer, life. Also, the guy was an amazing driver- where others took 5 hours getting home from USA-England match, Robert got us home in around two hours by using back roads. Turns out he used to make deliveries for a company, and so he knows every back road in the area.
Due to his work, he had not been able to see a match at the World Cup. Naturally, I had an idea to make sure that he did see one. On the park and ride bus to the stadium, I quickly discussed my plan with Chris (my friend in Johannesburg) and we agreed to split the ticket price. I next found an extra ticket available - at a price of around $120. However, when we called Robert to tell him the plan, his first reaction was our safety: "Let me make sure that I can find a safe place to park the van and someone to watch your things." What a reaction- responsibility and restraint I would not have had. The ticket would have to wait.
Robert is from Soweto, an all black area about 10 miles outside of Joburg. Much like Africans in South Africa, Soweto has come a long way in the past 30 years. Begun as a distant all black labor camp for the Joburg mines, it now houses 3 million people in a variety of homes, from shanty shack to suburban mansion. There are now B&Bs, cafes, museums, and even the crown jewel of the World Cup, Soccer City Stadium.
When I asked Robert what he liked to do, he said "Invite some friend over to drink a few and watch soccer." Drink Jamison and watch on his 42 inch plasma tv, by the way. Sounds a lot like what I like to do back home. I was impressed - South Africa is doing pretty well if van drivers in Soweto have tvs like that and drink Jamison Irish whiskey. Robert also pays for his girlfriend of six years to go to University in Cape Town.
Eventually, Robert met us outside the stadium having parked the van securely. The first person Chris and I approached, we asked for a ticket, any ticket.
The response from Nick the Englishman, "Who is it for?"
We pointed to Robert, "Our driver - he's a great guy and we just want to get him in the stadium."
"Is he a nice guy?"
"He's great - that's why we want to get him in."
"Ok, I have one extra ticket and you can have it. For free. It was given to me yesterday, and the guy told me to make sure it went to a nice person."
We tried to insist on paying him something, bu he said he had paid nothing for the ticket and wanted nothing for it. And so it went. Robert got into the game, for free. I recon you could sit outside the stadium for 1000 world cup matches and never once be given a free ticket. Count me as a believer in kharma, and on this day we had good kharma.
-Matthew
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