One Religion

I took this picture, of a Muslim man smoking a cigarette, whilst I was drinking large John Martyns in the Serviceair lounge at Jozi airport. He was smoking in the smoking section alongside all the other smokers.

I was a bit drunk. I liked the look of him. He looked cool. I thought the picture would say something. Perhaps it would paint a thousand words. What those words might be, at this remove, elude me. As I said, I was a bit drunk.

Thing is, a bad thing happened. He caught me taking the picture. He definitely did, and he stared at me threateningly until I quit that place. I feel bad about it. Don't Muslim travellers have enough to contend with without bloggers with half baked ideas of painting pictures with words (and pictures) taking pictures of them?

I think what I was getting at is this. Smoking is a great leveller. There he was, smoking in the smoking lounge, with other smokers from who knows how many different religions. Brought together, in that smokey room, by a shared addiction. To religion.

Quite touching really.