南非认证_南非2008年-我的护照满了

南非认证

My passport is nearly out of pages, and that nearly kept me from entering South Africa this weekend. South Africa has a strict rule that your passport not only expire more than 3 months in the future (which is common) but also that it have at least TWO full blank pages left.

我的护照快要用完了，这几乎使我这个周末无法进入南非。 南非有一个严格的规定，即您的护照不仅会在未来3个月内过期(这很普遍)，而且至少还剩下两页完整的空白页。

情况 (The Situation)

I knew this, but didn't worry about it because I have exactly two pages (23 and 24) left. However, when we arrived in Johannesburg Airport and started going through passport control, the young lady at the desk announced:

我知道这一点，但不用担心，因为我只剩下两页(23和24)。 但是，当我们到达约翰内斯堡机场并开始进行护照检查时，服务台的小姐宣布：

"Your Passport is full."

“您的护照已满。”

"Ah, well, it has two free pages at the back."

“嗯，它的背面有两个免费页面。”

"NO. It's full. Those pages are for amendments, not Visas."

“不。它已经满了。这些页面用于修改，而不是签证。”

"Really? I didn't realize that. I'm not sure I know what an amendment is. Can we just use those and I'll promise to get more pages when I get back home?"

“真的吗？我没有意识到这一点。我不确定我知道什么是修正案。我们可以使用这些修正案，我保证当我回到家时会得到更多的页面吗？”

"No."

“没有。”

"Well, what can be done? Is there someone I can talk to?"

“好吧，该怎么办？我可以和谁说话？”

"What are you saying exactly?"

“你到底在说什么？”

"I'm wondering if there's someone who might be able to help out with this problem."

“我想知道是否有人可以解决这个问题。”

"Are you implying I don't know how to do my job?"

“你是在暗示我不知道该怎么做吗？”

"Um, no, not at all, I'm just trying to understand what the next steps are."

“嗯，不，一点也不，我只是想了解下一步是什么。”

At this point, I'm literally stunned. The anger and negative vibe I'm getting here is really greater than ANYTHING I've ever felt before. We've had stones thrown at us by hooligans and had years of stares and negativity, but I'm really sensing that this lady HATES me, and I'm only a few sentences into our interaction here.

在这一点上，我真的很震惊。 我来到这里的愤怒和消极情绪比以前任何时候都强烈。 小流氓向我们扔石头，凝视和消极多年，但我真的感觉到这位女士讨厌我，在这里我们与我们的互动只说了几句话。

Then a older white guy comes over (the angry passport person was a very young Black lady) and asks what's up. It's clear that he's a peer from a job perspective. NOT a boss. In fact, there doesn't appear to be a boss anywhere to be seen. I'm used to some kind of passport overseer around.

然后一个年长的白人过来(生气的护照人是一个非常年轻的黑人女士)，问发生了什么事。 从工作的角度来看，很明显他是同龄人。 不是老板实际上，似乎没有一个地方可以看到老板。 我已经习惯了某种护照监督员。

Anyway, this guys says, "No, no, there's a new rule - there was a memo - that it's now OK to use the Amendments page on American Passports." This new rule is apparently a few months old.

无论如何，这些家伙说：“不，不，有一条新规则-有一条备忘录-现在可以使用“美国护照”上的“修订”页面了。” 这项新规则显然存在了几个月。

I've been silent since my last sentence...but now the older guy and the young lady are starting to get into it, in front of me. He's saying that he'll take the responsibility/fall and sign whatever to get me my visa. She's saying no way. Then he snatches my passport from her and walks away sharper, declaring "...and now I have to do YOUR job."

自从我上一句话以来，我一直保持沉默...但是现在，年长的男人和年轻的女士开始进入我的面前。 他是说他将承担责任/承担责任并签署任何获得我签证的文件。 她说没办法。 然后他从她那里抢走了我的护照，走得更锐利一些，宣称“ ...现在我必须做你的工作。”

The young lady is now mumbling under her breath in isiZulu about what an asshole both this guy and I am. But she's continuing to process the family's passport. A VERY long ten minutes pass and Older Guy comes over all apologies and light, saying he's sorry for the confusion and the trouble. He leaves.

这位年轻女士现在正在isiZulu中屏息凝视着这家伙和我的混蛋。 但是她正在继续处理家庭的护照。 很长的十分钟过去了，“大个子”走了所有的歉意和光，说他为混乱和麻烦感到抱歉。 他离开。

The Young Lady gives us our passports and I say "Siyabonga sibili sisi..." She starts a little, but there's still steam coming out of her ears. But, we're through.

这位年轻女士给了我们护照，我说“ Siyabonga sibili siisi ... ”，她开始了一点，但耳朵里仍然散发出蒸汽。 但是，我们经历了。

分析 (The Analysis)

My wife is pretty steamed at this point, but not with Young Lady, instead with me. She feels I handled a very African situation in a very American way. Rather than being instantly and extremely submissive to the Person in Power, I was logical, and implied that perhaps a supervisor could break the impasse.

这时我妻子很疲惫，但没有和年轻女士在一起，而是和我在一起。 她觉得我以非常美国的方式处理了非常非洲的局势。 我没有逻辑地向当权者屈服，而是顺理成章地暗示，也许主管可以打破僵局。

My brother in law feels that Americans in a service capacity (like a Passport Control Officer) typically don't want responsibility, preferring instead to defer to a supervisor who would ultimately take any heat from a decision. Africans, on the other hand, will assert any and all power that they have, almost a societal game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. A bus driver may be a "societal nobody" but he's still King of the Bus and he can kick Hobos and Presidents alike off the bus. This woman, for whatever reason, was asserting her Power, and when I didn't back down and say something like "Oh, my, I'm so sorry, I had no idea...can you help me?" I had already lost.

我的in子认为，具有服务能力的美国人(例如护照控制员)通常不希望承担责任，而是宁愿服从主管，而主管最终会从决策中吸取任何精力。 另一方面，非洲人将维护自己拥有的一切力量，几乎是一场摇滚，纸艺，剪刀的社会游戏。 公交车司机可能不是一个“社会无人”，但他仍然是公交车之王，他可以像霍博斯和总统一样将公交车踢下。 这个女人，无论出于什么原因，都在坚持自己的力量，当我不退缩说“哦，我的，我很抱歉，我不知道...你能帮我吗？” 我已经迷路了。

This interaction put a REALLY bad taste in my mouth, as it was an interaction that totally didn't go the way my mental script had laid it out.

这种互动给我的嘴巴带来了非常不好的味道，因为这种互动完全不符合我的脑筋计划。

As much as people are the same, cultures are VERY different. Now I realize that this Young Lady might have just broken up with her boyfriend or been oppressed by Whites her whole life. Or, maybe she just had a bad day and I got caught in the middle. I'll never know, but I do know that I was a biscuit away from being turned around (or calling the US Embassy) and came dangerously close to a ruined trip.

人一样多，文化也很不一样。 现在，我意识到这位年轻女士可能刚刚与男友分手，或者被怀特一生所压迫。 或者，也许她只是度过了糟糕的一天，而我却陷入了中间。 我永远不会知道，但是我确实知道我离被拐弯(或者打电话给美国大使馆)很近，很危险地接近被破坏的旅程。

What's the moral of the story? I've travelled all over, and I think I'm pretty thoughtful, knowledgeable and even charming. This usually works great for me (has for 35 years) in interaction with folks. However, even after more than a half-dozen trips to various African countries, I'm reminded that I don't know much at all. I'm not quite sure what I could have done to make this interaction more successful, short of living in South Africa for more than a month at a time.

这个故事的寓意是什么？ 我到处旅行，我认为我很体贴，知识渊博，甚至很迷人。 与他人互动时，这通常对我非常有效(已经使用了35年)。 但是，即使去了非洲多个国家超过六次，我仍被提醒自己一点也不了解。 我不确定该如何做才能使这种互动更加成功，而且一次不能在南非居住一个月以上。

What do YOU think, Dear Reader? How do things work in your country between People with Power and People without? This might be as simple as an interaction between a customer and a waiter, or a loan officer, or a customs agent.

亲爱的读者，您如何看待？ 有权力的人与没有权力的人之间的事情在您的国家如何运作？ 这可能就像客户和服务员，信贷员或海关代理之间的交互一样简单。

翻译自: https://www.hanselman.com/blog/south-africa-2008-my-passport-is-full

南非认证