Security Slapdown

Argh! This afternoon I walked to the corner to buy a bottle of water. When I returned to the office, a delegation of Afghan (male) co-workers informed me that for security reasons, it walking to the corner “not allowed” for foreigners. I acquiesced, because I’ll follow the company’s rules as long as they’re paying me for it, but when they told me the “why” of the rule and how I could travel around town, it was all I could do to maintain my stiff smile. I won’t go into details (for security reasons – ha!), but essentially, several months ago something bad happened to someone doing Activity X. Therefore, I am not allowed to do Activity Z. However, I am still allowed to do X – the very activity that got that someone into so much trouble. I’m not going to point out this flaw in their logic – they’ll probably just confine me to quarters for the duration.

What bugs me the most is that my trip to buy water was the highlight of my day – fumbling around trying to communicate, learning a new Afghan word, mixing up my “hellos” and “goodbyes.” The little man who sold the water to me was clearly tickled to have a foreigner in his kiosk. When I last visited Kabul, the best part of my visit was interacting with the people. Now my ability to do that is more limited. It’s frustrating as hell, but I’ll take what I can get.

I wish I had a better understanding of the security situation here. But I’ll play it by the company’s rules, even if they make me want to spit.