Wednesday 28 March 2012

WEEP, EVEN FOR THE DRUNK


It’s so easy to ignore the drunken vagabond and not see anything special in him.
This evening, I stopped by a local battery seller to get a battery, when a drunk stopped by. I quickly took few steps backward, as he looked like a lunatic on the loose. His clothes and feet were dirty, and he looked totally unkempt. I soon caught a whiff of the alcohol beneath his breath. I’d drawn my conclusion about this man before he had opened his mouth. But the moment he spoke, I  was amazed!!! He spoke flawless English, devoid of an accent. In that state of stupor, his brain was still sharp, as the trader tried to play a fast one on him, but he still took permanent control.
It occurred to me that he just might be a victim of circumstance, and might even have had a proper ‘buttie’ early education.
I can remember one of the managers of Celtel Nigeria, telling us during training that he had a schoolmate who attended his ‘buttie’ private school (in the class of Andrao and Corona schools) whom he saw at the bus stop one day. He was an area boy with all the ‘area’ around him, but he still spoke flawless English. He lost his father, and from then on, things started going down for them, till he landed where he was.

Before drawing up any negative conclusion about that woman that was caught eating from the bin, and was given some food, only for you to see her smoking, or the lady that would sleep with any man so much as says ‘hello’, or that drunk that isn’t easy on the eyes oe nose, think twice!!!

Written on 10/8/2011

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