Water tank saga

Wednesday, 2 pm.
Walking home.
10 guys.
2 water tanks stuck, inside each other, new from the factory.
These are very expensive, built to last forever, Tuffa tanks.

I can tell they have been working for awhile to get the tanks apart and the current plan that I over hear is
"let's roll them down the hill and that will make them come apart."
I say nothing beyond "hi guys" and go home.




4 pm.
15 men.
Dina truck.
2 ropes.
Trying to pull the 2 water tanks apart with the truck.
Also, hitting the tanks with big rocks and sticks.

4:30pm
20 guys.
I talk with a male missionary to see if he has any ideas to help the water tank adventure.
He gets them to stop hitting the tanks, thankfully.

Now, I really enjoy PNG guys as individual people. I find them kind and happy and we have a nice time visiting.
But there is a huge stigma that women are not knowledgeable in this country. A bit hard for an independent white girl to swallow, and I adapt my keeping my mouth shut with large groups of PNG men (after a long history of being ignored).
So, I had approached this situation by not worrying about it and thought that they would eventually get it figured out on their own.

Now, approaching 5pm, I thought that there was a slight possibility that they might be able to listen to my idea.
I quietly suggested to just one guy that they needed to put something long between the 2 tanks and break the suction then it would be able to pull them apart easier. They started collecting 2x4's and shoving them between the 2 layers.
I went home and not 15 minutes later the tanks were separated!

I was happy that the tanks were apart and the work was done. But most happy that I was listened to. Vain? Proud? I don't know. Maybe God just wanted to break down some of the cultural assumptions that I have made over the years.