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Saturday, April 6, 2013

An Electric Proposal


Here in Ghana, our electric meter runs on a pre-paid system. If you use all of the units before refilling your card, the power goes off. When you have two days of credit left, it goes off to warn you that you are getting low. We usually try to get the card filled before we get to the warning. But, every once in a while, it sneaks up on us. The electric card is credit-card sized and has a chip in it. The more electricity you use, the higher the price you will pay for the next month's units.

My husband was explaining what happens each time he goes to get the card refilled. We do not have a refill booth in our neighborhood; so, he drives to the next neighborhood. He takes the card inside the booth and tells the lady how much he wants to put on the card. She asks him if he will marry her. He tells her how much he loves his wife and shows her the pictures in his wallet of me and the kids. They remark how white Gilbert’s hair is. After all of that, they tell him that their machine is “off-line” and that they cannot sell any units. So, then he goes to the booth in the next neighborhood and repeats the exact same process until he finds someone who has a machine that is “on line.” It would save a lot of hassle if they just told you that their machine was off line before the marriage proposal and all of the other idle talk! I never thought about being thankful for an electric bill that came in the mail until facing this situation. The next time that little bill comes in the mail, praise the Lord for it!

If you have a language blooper or some other funny story that you would like to share with us, please e-mail it to me at loconsford@gmail.com. Please include the name of each family member, your field of service, and a picture of your family if possible.

Until next week, keep your sunny side up!

3 comments:

  1. Oh My! I can't imagine my husband being proposed to all the time!

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  2. The "proposals" are usually made in the tribal language. They don't expect a white person to understand Fante.

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  3. At least the lady didn't pick him up and try to carry him off to be married this time. Lo, this is so funny when you think about it!

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