In Heels

There is a quote about Ginger Rogers being more talented than Fred Astaire because she danced just as well as he did, only she did it in heels. I was reminded of this recently while riding Rwandan transportation.

Rwanda's public transportation system is built on mini buses. They are generally operated by a two man team. One person is the driver. The other sits in the back with the passengers, is responsible for gathering the bus fares, opening and closing the door and maintaining the conduct of the passengers in general. When it is a good team, both men work simultaneously as if on the same brain wave. The second man will hop in and out of the bus, while the driver slows and takes off. They never seem to miss a beat. Sometimes you think the second man will surely get left behind/get dragged along by the bus but at the last second he makes the leap onto the bus and closes the sliding door while taking his seat. I would compare it to the two man team that usually takes care of a garbage truck. This doesn't convey the prettiest picture but I swear sometimes it's a synchronized dance that could easily end in disaster so you can't take your eyes off it.

Then a funny thing happened while I was riding in Kigali. I saw a woman, and she wasn't just a passenger. She was actually the second man of the two man team. This was the first time in six months I had seen a woman break into this male dominated field. She had nice clothes, beautiful hair and walked up and down the aisle of the bus in heels. Her feet must have been killing her by the end of the day but I was glad she was breaking a gender stereotype while maintaining the code of female attire in Rwanda. Since that day I have seen one more female bus worker. I have been refreshed by their professionalism. Yes, they did a better job than any male bus worker, plus they were doing it in heels.