Two supernaturally super souls
About 18 months ago, I dedicated a column to Salome, the smart and sparkling guru of an ABSA staffer in Gqeberha who treats humanity with the unconditional love that it perennially needs.
As life (not luck) would have it, I revisited the branch this week, which houses a highly efficient home affairs cubicle, run like charismatic clockwork by two equally efficient and cheerful government employees.
I’m not quite sure why this particular place and its particularly pleasant people are like a magic portal into happiness, but I hit the jackpot again seeing not only Salome, but one of my most treasured longtime friends and colleagues, Ursula Atterbury, who runs her own slice of office efficiency with the same love and care that Salome does.
ABSA, I don’t bank with you, but you’re onto something at that Greenacres branch.
In September 2022, I wrote about Salome as a symbol of something greater within us, if we’d only care to look.
“In every village or city, there is sterling service and a ready smile,” I said of her.
“Sometimes, you might discover magic nestled within your own power to be positive
and the more it happens, the more you’ll believe it.
“I watched Salome, smart and sparkling in her red uniform, speaking with tremendous respect to old biddies [in the bank queue], and quite obviously making them feel, through her body language and smile, like extremely valued people on a mission of great importance.
“She walked them to chairs close by, to rest. When it was our turn to be treated hospitably by Salome, we experienced five-star service.
“I told her that she reminded me more of the general manager of a hotel, rather than the floor administrator of a bank, so sweepingly generous and enthusiastic was she.
“With wise eyes and a knowing smile, she told us being positive was the best vibe, and she had been able to see, from watching us in the queue, that we understood that, too, and were also positive people trying to harness the vibe.”
If you’ve ever been there, you’ll know Salome, and if you’ve ever visited The Herald newspaper offices, you might have met Ursula, too.
How does the world produce such brilliantly beautiful human beings?
My journey as a reporter under Ursula’s office managerial wing began more than 25 years ago, and when we bumped into each other this week, she hadn’t aged a day, either physically or spiritually.
Ursula was the colleague who insisted I must be pregnant with my first child (despite my denial of the possibility), and promptly used her lunch-hour, back in 2004, to buy me a pregnancy test. The rest is history such lengthy history, in fact, that the blip on that test is now almost 19.
It goes without saying that Ursula was also in charge of the baby shower, and the general outpouring of kindness that goes along with “expecting”.
I was able to introduce Ursula to Salome, while I stood in the queue outside the bank, and of course, despite hardly knowing each other, they hugged a hello.
But that’s the thing about these supernaturally super souls. They do know each other it’s a recognition of souls born to be kind, and giving.
As I wrote then, we are blessed beyond measure to have people like Salome and Ursula in our lives. They remind me that life is perfect, in this moment, just as it is.