Tuesday, December 22, 2009

7 things I'm grateful for this X-mas...


# 7. Vodka:
For its ability to:
1. Make me believe i can dance like shakira.
2. Inspire me to play the Air guitar as i pretend to be Slash & Carlos Santana. Disturbing, i know. But totally fun
3. Bring out my inner 18th century pirate (except i have better hygiene & would probably faint at the sight of blood). And yes, in my intoxicated mind's eye I've got that swagger down pat as i enthusiastically do damage to the wallet, throat, waistline and dance floor.

# 6. The Baristas at Dormans coffee shops:
For making smooth, hit-all-the-right-spots iced cappuccinos; my drink of choice whatever the weather. Hell, once or twice maybe thrice a week, it will even make my toes curl :-)

# 5. The stupidity of mankind:
You've got wars waged & injustices committed in the name of God and peace. Greed, vanity, obsession to conform & instant gratification seem to be the in-thing in our society. Then you've got our politicians (don't you just cringe when they open their mouths?), and the hilariously silly mistakes we make as individuals.
Those are just a few classic examples of why man is such an idiot. And they call us the thinking animal. But hopefully these mistakes move us to reflect and become wiser; angry enough to make a positive difference in the world around us and others can...well, become barroom tales & legends that go a long way into making an evening at the locals LEGEN...wait for it...DARY!

# 4. Pretty cool siblings:
We don't get to choose our family. So you're pretty much stuck with what you got no? So let me brag just a smidge by declaring I've got some pretty awesome individuals for siblings. And what's even cooler, i also count them as friends.

# 3. True-blue friends:
These are the friends who inspire & challenge me to be the very best of me; those who are a rock; those who take the time to ask "How you doing?" ; those who humor me when I'm being a total arse; and those who go "Your day sucked huh? Let's have a beer..."

Guys, my prayer and hope is that i can return the favor

# 2. A job that pays the bills & then some, good health and a dose of zaniness that is just right


# 1. My mum:
When you're experiencing one of those life's lows and someone out of the blue tells you "Remember you have a place home and no body will ever take it," You KNOW you've got a priceless person in your corner. And yeah, my mum's super awesome like that...


Have a fab x-mas all.


Mob wendos,


Nyambura


PS: I've just added Ozwald Boateng to my list of cool, inspiring people a.k.a "list of people i'd invite for dinner dead or alive". He's not only got the right kind of attitude & school of thought, but he's also a citizen of the world striving to make a positive difference.




Thursday, December 3, 2009

A glimpse into the bizarre workings of the Kenyan mind....

Now, during rush hour the one way fare to south B is 30 bob... the flashy mats may even charge 40 bob but majority stick with 30 bob. Off peak hours, the one way fare is 20 bob.

Last evening, the south b mats trickled in with the touts gallantly declaring "Hundred bob Mater-Hazina!"
The crowd mumbled and grumbled and the touts had a change of heart, "Seventy bob Mater-Hazina!

Now this is where any ordinary person with an ounce of good sense would have done the mental math, looked up at the clear sky to confirm if pigs were indeed flying and asked the commuter on his left "Is the town on fire & we didn't get the heads up? Ama there's a riot ?"
Commuter-on-his-left looking just as puzzled would have probably replied "I didn't hear anything. Maybe public transport has just been declared illegal and this is the last run,"

And if the answer to all of the above was no, you'd all calmly stay put and pointedly ignore the touts till they got the point. And they WOULD get the point. Business sense dictates they HAVE to get the point.

But noooo, a huge chunk of the good, hard working folks of south B scrambled into the mats like you wouldn't believe. The touts saw the mad rush, got all excited and screamed "FOOOORTTY bob kusimama!"

And more people pushed and shoved to get in, some nearly having their eyes gorged out by umbrellas and enthusiastic bony elbows. You see the way in cartoons they depict a mad brawl as this huuge chaotic cloud of dust with lots of cussing, punching, yelping & jostling sounds and all you can see are their limbs & assorted body parts sticking out? It looked something like that.The rest of us were just left braving the chilly weather waiting for the fares to come down. And they did.


Here's what i don't get.

If EACH & EVERY commuter had stayed put and refused to enter the mats, those guys would have brought the crazy fares down. Why?
We had the numbers; that stage had throngs of commuters. Those mats cannot afford to go back empty. They cannot afford to waste time either. They would have glared at us and we'd have glared back but eventually they would have backed down. We even had a Karl Max type commuter loudly trying to clue in
the minority who may have been slow in reaching that logic. He practically begged them to use their common sense. It was not about the haves and have-nots. It was about someone blatantly deciding they will exploit you and banking on the fact that you will give in...

Here's some food for thought, "If poverty is the mother of crime, lack of good sense is the father," by Jean de la Bruyere.


And as Dr. Phil says, "You either get it or you don't"



Mob wendos,


Nyambura