I Was Once Talking To A Man From South Africa ...

I was once talking to a man from South Africa whose father was a Baptist minster during the apartheid years. Their family lived in a mining town and the labourers at the mine were from 3 different African tribes, each with their own independent language. At one time there was a lot of unrest amongst the mine labourers, and the mine manager, concerned that a riot was going to start went and asked this Baptist minister if he would come and speak to the workers to try and calm them down. The minster agreed to try although he did not know any African languages. So he spoke and a riot was averted. Afterwards, much to his surprise, the minister was praised for having the common sense to speak in the African trade language so that all the workers, no matter what tribe they came from, could understand him. The surprise for him was that he had never learnt that language and was totally unaware that that is what he had spoken.