The other day I was asked to judge at an event. I should have known it wasn’t really going to work for me because it was a last minute thing and it was in Dalston. I’m not a fan at the best of times but the long trek from Africa Utopia to Dalston Kingsland was enough to make me lose the will to live. Some areas just aren’t the sorts I look forward to. But, it was a favour. I love to help out fellow entrepreneurs doing their thing.
When I got there ON TIME I was told that the event was going to be a tad late as there was a screening of Louis Farrakan being shown. They had double booked the space apparently. The guy asked me if I wanted to watch it. I said no thank you. He looked at me like I was crazy and asked me again. Again I declined. The man was incredulous. As I walked away he placed his hand on my arm and asked again! “Wait a minute my sister. Are you telling me that you don’t want to hear a message, a warning from our esteemed leader for our community?” I smiled back sweetly and said, “Yes I really don’t have any interest in hearing it. But thank you for asking me 3 times” He tried again by which time I was losing the will to live. What he didn’t know is that I had spotted a Nandos on my way there and was hoping to get a cheeky eat on before the event. He finally gave up and as I left I heard him persuading someone else to go in. There was 45 minutes of this warning left. All I knew was that there was no way this event was going to start on time.
As I walked out a friend introduced me to another guy who ran a radio station. He suggested the two of us talk as I used to host a radio show. The guy asked me what sort of show I hosted and I said that it was a talk show about sex and dating. For the second time that night I had a man look at me like I was crazy. Is this a Dalston thing? He told me that it wasn’t a match as his was a conscious station. He accepted that sex was a conscious issue but let’s face it the conversation wasn’t likely to lead anywhere without him insulting me further so we both quickly switched topic. I zoned out as I saw the Nandos rooster sign behind him as he explained the journey of his radio station. This was his passion. Nandos was mine. But then just as I was going to politely excuse myself I was told the event was about to start. What they omitted to mention was that it was going to be another hour before it actually started. All the while I was stuck in a dungeon in Dalston. This didn’t bode well but surely it couldn’t get any worse. And then I met …….the judge.
© Chelsea Black
