Ephrem Endale Contributer
There is the story of this guy who takes his friend to show him his new, beautiful girlfriend. He points her out from a distance and says, “There she is: isn’t she beautiful?”
The guy looks all around and couldn’t see anyone fitting the guy’s descriptions.
“Which one are you talking about?”
“Can’t you see her? The one…”
And the guy finally rests his eyes on a lady who probably turns heads for all the ‘wrong’ things! So this was his friend’s Cleopatra about who he heard so much. Beautiful! He evaluates her on what he thinks, and what society has led him to believe were the unique features of the beautiful ones! (Whoever set down those ‘conditions!’) Being a guy who says what he thinks he says;
“That one! You mean that is your girlfriend!”
“Yes she is! What’s wrong with her?”
“What is so beautiful about her? For me she’s just another very ordinary lady.”
The guy, so the story goes had only one answer; “If you were in my place, you’d have seen how beautiful she was!”
I think the guy deserves praise. He wasn’t going to settle for the beauty qualities which disqualify almost four fifth of humanity! He wasn’t going to take anybody’s word since while his own thinking brain is still alive and kicking! So, when you want to show your beautiful or handsome other half to a friend or to stand your ground. If you say she is beautiful, she IS beautiful! If you say he is handsome, he IS handsome! (How did I get into that!)
Anyway, I don’t think there is any era where this planet of ours was as messy as it is now. Astounding how humanity could sink so low that God might be saying to Himself, “Did I mess up things! Did I give two legs and a thinking brain to the wrong species?” Arm-twisting; that has become the name of the game! And to be arm twisted you don’t have to commit anything wrong. The very simple act of trying to be yourself and stay that way makes you enemies. When you refuse to be remote-controlled by others frustrating teeth are grinding somewhere else. You’re not a team player! Now how can you become a team player when every bit of their attitude towards you is confrontational and they try to tell you what kind of underwear you
should be wearing…or else.
Or else! Isn’t what many things are about these days? When the ‘little’ ones, when the poor ones, when the disadvantaged ones try to stand on their own two feet there are those among the ‘powerful’ who take it as an affront to their ‘thrones.’ There are those who, in roundabout ways, are trying to criminalize poverty.
There is this notion of “Only we know what is good for you!” Where the ‘powerful’ try to dictate every bit in your life. What do they know about you? How can they be more knowledgeable than you about things which concern you and only you? I mean they should have played the nice kid on the block roll by admitting, “Sorry but I’m not in a position to talk about such things because I don’t have the facts.” Ha! Give the guy who says that the front seat. He deserves it, because he chose to stick to the acts! Sadly facts seem to have become subjective. Facts have become what people want them to be!
Spend a few minutes on social media and there are always some dudes across some oceans and seas who try to play the ‘undisputed’ rulers of this land. They know everything while they know nothing! How can people who would probably ask you “Do you have cars in Ethiopia?” pose as experts about this country? A couple of decades back that’s what I faced. And this ‘expert on Ethiopia’ for some local TV stations asked me exactly that; “Do you have cars in Ethiopia?” And this is a guy who influences the opinions of viewers about this country.
I can guess there are a lot of such people whose knowledge about Ethiopia goes no further than the posts they read on social media. The irony of it all is that even some of those who have passed through this place don’t have information that goes beyond the lobbies of the four and five star hotels.
There is an Amharic saying which more or less sounds like… “Flies don’t invade a firmly shut mouth.” Isn’t that a winner? I mean on the surface saying that to those who deserve it might sound unfriendly. But how can you be ‘unfriendly’ when there are no friends!
A couple of us were talking about the lady who recently passed through here. Yes, you got it right; it’s the very lady who attracted all those postings on the social media. Sorry to break it to her; but lady, not many people seem to like you around here. You’ve the most smeared reputation. Well somewhat people think that you’re a major player in the gang of somethings over there out to destroy this country of thousands of years. Well, you might say “Who. Me! How can you pull me that low?” Well we didn’t. Your words about us over the years haven’t been that nice either.
Look people are justified to suspect there was some foul play going on behind the scenes. After what have been happening around here for several months and after savoring the reactions of politicians and media in the Western world how can we think of any other thing! I mean prior to the lady’s coming the terms that were connected with the visit weren’t cordial to say the least. It was said she was coming to “pressure” Ethiopians into accepting whatever she says. Pressure! Really! not much camaraderie in that!
If it was said she was coming to ‘hold discussions’ maybe it would have made more sense. Even if we try to write off the term take ‘pressure’ as harmless wordplay what follows seals everything. If she doesn’t get her way there will be ‘punitive’ measures against our country. It is like saying “When we tell you to jump you don’t ask ‘why?’ but ‘how high?’” Or else! And the implied follow-up is “If you don’t concur, we’ll make sure you’ll never walk again let alone jump!” ‘Punitive!’
Then some guy pops up out of nowhere and puts the former Yugoslavia and Ethiopia in the same sentence.
The times when we used to take things for granted are long gone. For long we have been duped into believing what we see is what we get! That what we hear is what will happen! That the smiles and hugs and back-patting are genuine; Not anymore. Greed rules the world. I mean things are so bizarre they literally try to take the food out of your mouth! God save us from arm-twisters!
The Ethiopian Herald August 8/2021