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THE OLD RULE OF THUMB

There was a time when the criterion for enrolling children into school was for the hand to go across their head to touch their ear. It was deemed practical and the proper judgement for establishing a child old enough to get an education.  Many of our parents experienced this because there was no documentation regarding age/birth certificates, so the logic was to ascertain a child's age by specific abilities. Take, for instance, Diana in 1985. The education standard for getting into school was from the age of 5. Diana's mother had painted beautiful pictures of a school's appearance and said that only sensible people were considered worthy of being a part of it. All Diana wanted to do was put on the new socks and shoes her mother had purchased. Diana dreamt of reciting the greeting the night before, 'Good morning, teacher; we are happy to see you; God bless you.' And so, Diana was taken to school that morning for enrolment. 'Fine girl, raise your right hand over y...
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THE EGYPTIAN OR ME?





THE EGYPTIAN OR ME?

On my way back from a lucky-less interview I met an Egyptian man asking for directions to a pot shop close by. He had on this sorry look like a man who had just lost his job. When I think of it now, I think it was because I thought we shared a mutual feeling that was why I even stopped to listen to him.
“I look for pot shop close here. You know?” He asked.
At first I could hardly understand him until I noticed he was holding a photo of the pot shop in his hands. I pointed towards the direction, telling him the easiest way to get there. Suddenly, this short movie became annoying when this sun-tanned chubby looking man asked for my almost-emptied bottle of water. That bottle of water was my first meal, friend and companion after my horrific interview- an interview that I was made to wait for hours only to be told that the boss had traveled and won’t be back any time soon. That bottle of water helped me hide my tears as I drank it while I struggled with my thoughts of how I would survive through the month and there was this foreigner asking for it.
“No! I want to drink it so I can’t give it to you.” I said to him.
And this was what this man had to say to me: 
“Egypt good. Nigeria no good. I test you to give me water. You say no. you, you no good at all. No like you. I only test you and you fail.”

As he walked away, I just stood there watching him. He looked worse than I did; tired and disappointed. I couldn’t tell if his meeting me even heightened his current state. I could only tell that he hated my country maybe even more than I did. Was I really as bad as my country? Was I without compassion for the man? It was just water after all and I could not even share it or give it out rightly. Why would he use water as a test? He must have not gotten over the parting of the Red Sea. Yet, I felt bad for allowing my pains take over my compassion, for treating another with such inequity whether I was being tested or not.

I walked home consoling myself with the fact that the man’s dentition needed immediate deliverance. Only Jesus would share a bottle of water with such a person. “If I ever visit Egypt. I will surely not share a bottle with anyone, I thought.” However, the truth of the issue is that our country really makes us who we are. Whether the Egyptian was right or not, deep down I know that nothing should make me behave less of a human being but as hard as I try, my country just wants to pull me down with it. It especially tampers with my goodwill. I am afraid that I will lose it.
A Shared Experience.

Comments

  1. Unknown15 September 2019 at 08:36

    Interesting write up very educative and inspiring.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous15 September 2019 at 09:30

    Very true. Sometimes we let the state of this country get to us so much that we lose empathy

    ReplyDelete
  3. EMMAWAD18 September 2019 at 15:14

    Well said...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Unknown23 January 2020 at 04:31

    Interesting! This mood thing ehnnn....both the Egyptian and the Nigerian, in such, everyone is a victim of it jaare!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rukeiyahh1 March 2020 at 00:26

    Nice one!

    ReplyDelete

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