I met up with some friends recently..impromptu..thought it
would be one or two..but it turned out to be 8 girls..and I was the only
guy..It was a birthday lunch at a popular restaurant in East Legon. The food
was late, orders were wrong, the waitress had an attitude and a locally aquired foreign accent which
she says she had picked up from one of the girls at the table(who happens to be
a very popular radio show hostess)…all in all it was fun
I do not enjoy being in the midst of so many ladies..not my
forte..and on any other occasion I would have left within an hour. However I
decided to embrace this time with the ladies, I even openly hugged one of them
in the middle of the whole thing. I pulled an Oprah/token gay male friend..but anyways these girls
are all working women…approaching 30..interested in shoes..weddings..marraige
and having babies..I did not participate much in that part of the conversation
but my friend likes to tease me and call me a celebrity and then proceed to
tell people about the stuff I do. Around this same time everybody started
moaning about work the next day and the tone of the conversation changed
Everybody agreed that the money they were being paid wasn’t
enough, that the system sucked, that they are undervalued and frustrated at
work…then they went on to talk about some great Ghanaian entrepreneur stories..Beige
Capital..The Boateng Brothers of Global Media Alliance and the most loved of
all local entrepneurs Prince Kofi Amoabeng.
The ladies spoke in admiration of the bold steps these
people had taken and how they were fairing now. One girl lamented, ‘Sometimes I
look at all the work I do and I think to myself I want to quit and do my own
thing…’ but I don’t know what to do.
One of the ladies spoke about how successful a father of her
friend was – ‘He has shares everywhere-oil, roads, mining, palm wine…’ We
laughed…she continued ,’but he started off as a trotro driver and his wife was
his mate’
Pause ..
Pause
Pause again…
So many things went through my head at that time..too many
to put in words…but by the time we settled the bill my mind went back into work
mode..I got home to find my cousin who was home for the holidays from school.
He had his report card-a variety of alphabets thrown all over the paper and my
mom had not taken it lightly. When I left the house this morning she had ‘encouraged’
him (African mother style) to study. 11 hours later I got back and he was at
the same position...head in the books..looking like Django..chained
I asked him ..Jaheim(fake name) …do you give a shi@? I would
say crap but I know you say shi@ and I do too so let’s not fake it. Do you give
a shi@ about your education/grades?
As the average, normal,decent 15 year old would respond he
said ‘Yes’ and went on to regurgitate more jargons for me ‘education is the key
to life and success’
I left him, telling him we would talk tomorrow morning but
as I sit behind my PC I have to ask…
DO YOU GIVE A SHI@ ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?
Looking at the waiter, the bevy of birthday girls, my
cousin, the entrepeneurs they spoke about I cannot judge or answer for them…
But I know their answer will determine success or failure in
their lives.
hmmmmm... thought provoking.
ReplyDeleteVery good post! On to part two now...
ReplyDelete