Interlude - anecdote

Clearly, they get all sorts staying here – and from the stories, some of the niaivity is breath-taking. Alex swears this is true... a guy arrived here, was standing outside the hostel with his phone in his hand. A 'local' came up to him, holding a book with Nelson Mandela on the cover (he's well known in this parts...), offering it to him for fifty rand. He hands the guy the book, and the guy gives him is phone to hold. Voom! - the guy is away on his toes up the street. The book, of course, is rubbish, with a fake cover. Seeing this, a young teenager walks over, and tells him he can get his phone back for 100R. The guy gives him the money and, of course, Voom! Seeing this, an older local wanders over and sympathises with him ('kids today', etc.). He remarks that he's most worried about the phone numbers, and the local tells him he can get his sim card back for fifty rand. Still, having not learned his lesson, the guy hands over the cash and Voom! - he's now one phone and one-hundred-and-fifty rand down. At this point, I believe he cut his losses and went back to the hostel.

The twist, then, was that, coming out of the hostel later, the same older local guy lurched up to him, clearly drunk, and gave him his sim card. Apparently as soon as they have the phone, they throw the card in the gutter...

True story.