A reflection from the streets of Makola

I went to Accra Central yesterday precisely Makola market to make a few purchases and my first lesson for that day was realized when I was buying fabric.  The vendor was doing a good job of showing me the varieties in stock but at one point he showed me some fabric he thought I should get and I was immediately upset. I couldn't believe he had actually shown me such ugly fabric and I couldn't hide my displeasure at his suggestion.  He put that one aside consequently and showed me different ones till a little later another lady came in to buy. She went on a wild goose hunt as she couldn't find anything she fancied till she came upon one particular fabric and got very excited and wanted to make payment immediately. Curious to see what had soo tickled her fancy and perhaps to purchase some of that I looked her way and I was stunned. It was the same fabric I had passed off as too ugly for the human eye.

This Lady had found it extremely nice and was ecstatic. To me I couldn't ever be caught in such a horrid print but to her she had found a diamond among faux stones. The saying though weary with over use in Ghana that "one man's meat is another man's poison" fully came to bear in that instant".  We cannot expect everyone to like what we adore and others cannot expect all and sundry to agree with them all the time. Just like I would choose beef any day over chicken, others will eat chicken and cannot stand beef. Life is all about tolerance, understanding  dissenting views and opinions of others and not considering people adversaries because they don't share our sentiments. The lady really liked the fabric but I couldn't be furious about it because it was her choice. If we all paid more attention to tolerance and not playing God over peoples decisions, the world will be  a better dwelling place and am almost certain most of the civil wars and useless wars that have occurred will never have had a chance then and never will in the future.

After leaving that shop I went ahead to buy bobby pins. As usual i was heckled by a thousand shoppers trying to pass in a very tiny walkway and a thousand more vendors trying to sell their wares. I don't know if you've been to the Makola market on a market day before, but the street vendors are impossibly aggressive and instead of allowing you decide what you want to buy they thrust the items in your face and  grab you from all corners and angles. They again call you by numerous names to see which you'd respond to. On the whole they are very irritating and can propel you to do many things.  I mean someone grabs your arm with a dirty, sweaty, beefy hand, and you don't even know where the hand has been that day or what kind of work it has been engaged in but yet still the hand is touching you. Are you supposed to smile? Its not because they are street vendors that I say this, but i don't know why people you have no knowledge of should be touching you, regarldess of which divide they are on, whether they donning  Armani suits and crusing in Ferrari's or selling iced water in "charley wotes's" there's no excuse. 

There are so many contagious diseases now and care must be taken so as not to contract any of them, so indiscriminate touching is really a no no. Well one of these vendors grabbed a girl by the arm with a grip of steel because as much as the girl tried to break away she couldn't. Eventually something gave and she broke away and left in a huff. The vendor took offense and don't ask me why he did because  I was as astonished as you  probably are now. If there should have been an angry party it should have been the girl and not the vendor. The vendor rained so many insults on the girl that most people watching were amazed at his erratic behavior. Honestly this was just a case of "sour grapes". If the girl had stopped to examine his item or possibly had even purchased it he would have been full of praises for her, but because she went contrary to his expectation, in his minds eye she deserved verbal abuse. 

You know the sugar eating tongue is the same as the salt eating tongue right? oh and even same as the pepper eating one. As human beings we contradict ourselves daily, lets take a few scenarios . We all are disgusted by the filth we see in Accra but daily we litter our environs. Sometimes i see people drop pieces of trash through their car windows when they could have as easily found a trash can but yet when people complain about the filth in Accra they sit in their air conditioned cars with their noses in the air and act all self righteous. What about the stench that engulfs some parts of the city? we almost have to wear oxygen masks to pass through certain areas.  The inhabitants complain tirelessly about the stench but yet in the dead of the night they throw out liquid waste in the gutters and open drains, how then do they expect  to breathe in fresh air?

During elections there is always a lot of discord between members of opposing political parties and at the end of the day one party wins, unless of course there's some unrest as is happening in Cote D'ivoire presently with two sworn in presidents. Now that's a joke but do you realize that the same people who voted for a particular party to win an election, may suddenly deny casting their votes in its favor when the government of that party fails to perform? i mean there are many die hard party members but there are also the ones who change their views when it suits their interests. So when the government of that party is chalking milestones they belong, but when they are failing the people miserably then they switch to a position of neutrality which at the point suits their purpose. Contradiction is synonymous with humanity.

I remember when i was in the premier university and at certain times we heard of people who had been caught on camera in sex videos and other kinky acts. students were quick to condemn and my goodness, self righteousness was at its utmost peak. Those who hadn't even seen the video were giving details about its incredulity. I also did get caught up in some of those discussions, but I just believe that hypocrisy thrives in the human spirit. Students have sex daily in all the different halls and hostels, the only difference between the students and those in the sex tape is that they weren't caught. Just because the videos weren't of them, big mouths and small mouths alike were chastising. we  have to bear in mind that whenever people get into mishaps and we point our long fingers at them, we fail to realize that tomorrow we could be the ones in trouble and the people we are busily tale-bearing  about others with us will in reverse laugh at us sardonically. That isn't to say those in the video were without blemish but just implying like my boyfriend says, "don't leave a fallen man behind" or like Jesus said "he who is without sin, cast the first stone".

Mistakes are bound to happen otherwise we wouldn't be living at all, but then progress lies in moving forward and not looking back. If Lot's wife in the holy book, had looked ahead as she was instructed to by the angel she would have reached the mountain with Lot but she looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. That's just one example of how much we can make of the future by looking ahead. Hypocrisy, self righteousness and self rightness are inherent traits of our mortal bodies whichever way we look at it. lets strive to attain perfection and go easy on contradictions because our lives are like windows. People look through them and wouldn't it be amazing if instead of unsightly yellowing leaves they see green pastures? 

Food for the contradicted spirit.