One day I was at the Sportsman's Arms hotel in [Nanuyki] treating myself to some satellite TV and a nice cold Coke. Sportsman's Arms was about the only place in town where you could get more than the one state-run TV channel which was known for airing old soap opera reruns and the WWF (World Wrestling Federation).
I was watching a short American movie called "The boy who painted Christ black" which is about an African American boy that caused controversy in his home town when he painted a picture of a black Christ. While I was watching, the waiter walked over to the TV and changed the channel to the state-run channel which as usual was reporting on what President Moi did that day. I asked the waiter in Swahili why he changed the channel. The waiter pointed across to the bar and said in English, "They told me to." I directed my gaze to where the waiter was pointing. At the bar were seated two burly white South African men whom I had heard speaking for a short while in the background. They looked back at me. Throwing caution to the wind, I turned back to the waiter and said "Well turn it back." The waiter complied.
One of the South Africans turned to me and protested by saying "But it's rubbish!" I turned my attention back to him and demanded "What's rubbish?!" They looked around the room and saw that we were the only white people in the room, had a short disucssion between themselves quietly and turned their attention back to their drinks. I went on to finish watching the movie and they finished their drinks and left.