Beautiful immigration in Johannesburg
How gracious and accommodating can an immigration office be? Unbelievably.
You realize that I was in disgrace because twice I had stayed in South Africa longer than my visa authorized me to, and that was not well-thought of.
Upon re-entry to South Africa, that is when I had to pay a fine. Whereas before, I had kind of been made to feel like a felon, the regular lady at the immigration booth treated me like a queen, God bless her.
First of all, she said to me, that if I didn't have the money, I could pay when I leave. That was unbelievably sweet. I had the money, but it was American money, and I had to pay in Rands. This lady escorted me to the money exchange place a mile away, up two floors etc. She also wheeled my carry-on for me. After I received the rands, we then walked another mile to some offices where her fingerprint allowed us in. We had come to the place where you pay. The kind immigration people there gave me a receipt and told me to keep it just in case.
And then this lovely lady escorted me back to where we started, and she kindly expunged from the computer any record of my illegal status, and she was kind enough to let me know she had.
She gave me her name. Although my gratitude to her is great, I'm not sure I remember her name accurately. It may have been Catmar. Catmar must mean Angel. This was the first angel to welcome me to South Africa.
Comments
Gloria Dear Of course, You were treated by an Angel all people you meet will treat you that way as they recognise the Angel You are. Love Jack
She just wanted an excuse to spend time with you, as word has traveled fast, I am sure. I'd love to read HER blog that night, about the angel who will always stand out in her career... I'm sure she was also trying hard to think of some way to avoid having to charge you as well, but that mntn. was too steep to climb. :)
Beloved Sharon, what a sweet angel you are!
And, Jack, I KNEW you were going to say that. I almost said something in response in the blog itself. I have another instance where a supervisor was TERRIBLE to me! She was rude, supercilious, and SHE walked away from me.
However, I must say that there were other personnel who were more wonderful than you could ever expect. Maybe the supervisor was rude so that her employees could shine!
But, Jack, never change, okay? Stay the beautiful ship you are that stays true to itself. It has a magnificent prow and keeps going forward and nothing gets in its way.
[For those who may not know, Jack was a lifetime seaman before he took to land.]
Sharon, you and Jack go into my hall of fame! God bless you both.
P.S. Sharon, are you the Sharon who donates every month? I have long wanted you to post!