Give this post a second reading and tell me what we need to do. What is your opinion?
Before I Was somehow convinced that I could actually put words next to each other and tell a story, I was a vivid reader of biographies and personal journals; stories about how humble people who were probably the least in the society managed to raise to the top of the world. I know how Sherlock homes was founded; how Bill Gates built Microsoft; how Kalashnikov invented the AK47; Ted Turner and CNN among other great men and women Today I’m not really interested in how so and so did what they did to be who they are; I want to find out what it is; that the majority did not do and the reason they did not do that; which would have made the difference in their lives.
When I joined the transport industry over ten years ago, there were those I found already fully established in the sector. Those who lived the life I envied; they talked the talk and walked the walk. They seemed to have all I was dreaming for; they drove the newest Matatus, dressed in the latest fashion and dated the prettiest women. They stayed in self-contained houses and ate with silver spoons indeed.
Ten years down the line, the same guys are peasants, old men with grey hair who hang around the bus stops looking for squads. They can be generally described as living on hand-outs. Nobody gives them much attention anymore. What went wrong? I shared my thoughts about this issue with some of my close friends also matatu workers like me. I sort their views on the matter.
We had a very lovely discussion, which ended up harming our pockets deeper than we could have budgeted for. It was during the weekend and we were not somewhere in a house taking tea. The topic was; Why would a man spend 20yrs of his most productive years providing service to the public and end-up living on handouts?
Jeff a conductor was convinced that the problem lies with the Industry itself and how it is run. He said that despite workers putting all their skills in performing the tasks; the employer denies them all the benefits that other service providers enjoy. Benefits like Medical cover; employment contracts; pension contributions among others, this leaves the worker with nothing to show for his contribution at the end. I could see the point he was driving at; but I was not fully convinced. I turned to the next person.
Elijah a fellow Matatu driver blamed individuals {workers} for failing to move-on. He said that many employees get satisfied with little and draw their budgets according to the little income. To them, paying house rent and school fee plus providing three meals is all it takes. They fail to see the importance of investing in property. Since the industry does not provide the securities as Jeff had mentioned above, their prosperity ends the day they fail to wake-up the next morning to go to work. Elijah seemed to broaden the topic; admitting that lack of those benefits was an issue but also blaming individuals.
In my opinion, I viewed the problem as having to do with peer pleasure and irresponsibility. I argued that, majority get carried away by drug addiction, prostitution and alcoholism. Irresponsibility in the sense that; many fail to build strong family foundations that they can fall back to. They fall prey to gold diggers and prostitutes because of the guaranteed daily cash income. They spend all their money with people who end up leaving them when they can no longer provide. This is a big problem especially to those who come to the city from the rural areas and leave their families in the village. Life in the cities is interesting and tempting as well. They cohabit with mostly single mothers and end-up supporting other men’s children while forgetting their own families back home. They later find they have no place to return in case of sickness or disability resulting from road accidents; since they are ashamed to face the people they abandoned.
Judy; the waitress who was serving us and was keenly following the debate begged to join in. she had a bone to break with my views. She defended women and distanced them from having taken part in a man’s failures. She said that; the so called gold diggers and prostitutes are also service providers and that these men need their services to be productive. “We never ask anybody to leave their wives,” the bad news is that, many can’t afford to keep both ends burning and each has to choose who he wants to be with. Her boyfriend is a matatu driver and not the father of her children. Her views earned her a beer from my friend Peter.
Peter; who had not said a word since the discussion started joined in; He told us that our discussion was pointless as all we were trying to do is blame God for his creation. He warned us against judging other people and trying to find meaning in their life style. He said that every man’s future and outcome of his life is destined by fate and powers beyond our understanding. Principalities and powers. That’s what he called them.
And Just like all talks over something intoxicating, we ended up precisely where we started; only minus a few hundreds.
