The University of Ghana installed a gate-and-card system on all but two entrances to the campus in the last couple years. The gates are raising-lowering booms that activate automatically when cars approach with appropriate credentials (a special card affixed to the inside of the windshield).
This morning on the way to drop Mark at his friend Kwame’s house for a ride to school, the tro-tro ahead of me went beneath the boom, the light switched to green, and I moved ahead. But, instead of staying up, the boom came down toward our car. I sped up, but not fast enough. Mark and I heard a very loud “crack” noise but moved along to Kwame’s house. In the rearview mirror, I saw a security guard nonchalantly poke his head out of his hut. He didn’t seem too concerned, because the boom remained functional.
Mark was first out of the car at Kwame’s house and exclaimed, in a Ghanaian way, “ha!” But rather than the expected dent in the roof, we saw that the stubby radio antenna near the rear window was cracked off.
All told, this is a pretty good outcome, seeing as how the sheath on the antenna was already damaged from exposure to the sun and needed to be replaced anyway. I have an appointment for the car on Tuesday, and we’ll add this item to the list of things that need to be addressed.
It’s always something.
—Matt
