A few of weeks back a couple of us were whiling away the time in one of those restaurants where you almost have to write a check to pay for a cup of coffee. A group of girls were talking about something which, from the looks on their faces must have been a serious issue. One among them was the focus as all of them looked at her when talking. Meanwhile, their orders come and one among them seemed to have ordered what we call ‘Special Tea’ a blend meant to deal with a troubling cold. (In some places they put some local Arake in it and whoever came with that idea for the first time must be a genius. That thing really does its job! You should try it one of these days just for the sake of not being left out of discussions where the term ‘Special Tea’ crops up. Now the girl I told must have never seen that temptingly yellowish blend and asks…”Do they put Tej in it?” Now, if I’ve ever heard such stinging laughter meant not to lighten the mood but to laugh at the expense of some innocent soul I couldn’t recall, my memory must be in ‘flight’ mode.
The girl was so offended that she doubles up and starts like you’ve seen any other person cry! Her friends shaken up were first left in the dark as to what they must do. Then they tried to convince her that they weren’t laughing at her, pleaded with her to go forget the whole thing. The words flew from all sides trying to convince her it was all a harmless joke but no amount of cajoling and pleading could console her. Suddenly she springs up, snatches her handbag and hurries out. Her friends looked like a group who had just been told this was their last day on planet earth.
You hesitate to do things, because you feel you might make mistakes and people will laugh at you …and I mean I laugh at you until their jaws drop! While you should have said “If that is their idea of amusement let them laugh until they drop dead, but I’ll not pull back from doing what I should do!” you throw away everything to the wind just not to give the pretext to laugh at you. You try to speak in language that is not your mother tongue and you sure are to face a thousand and one pitfalls. And they laugh at you, people who couldn’t have managed a third of what you laugh at you! “Look at this dude making some sorry of himself!” So, who cares? I mean these morons are laughing at their own stupidity and let them enjoy it while they can! The joke is on them.
There is a point I enjoy rising every now and then. When you try to speak English and make it sound like some dialect very near to extinction people will laugh at you. When a ferenji tries to speak Amharic and uses some pronunciations you probably heard in the “Planet of the Apes” or some of those weird animation films he gets a standing ovation. The dudes don’t even know what he was trying to say! “Look at the ferenji trying to learn our language. Isn’t that great!” But when it’s some local boy it’s “Someone should tell this guy to stop making a fool of himself!
With an entire group laughing at you your whole body is bound to be one big, painful ache. You try to keep your cool. You can’t go on bumping head with every other guy who laughs at you for all the wrong reasons
“Were you guys laughing at me?”
“Look, don’t get all worked up! We were only…”
“I asked were you laughing at me?”
You see, these days there are those who are always craving for some sort of confrontation 24/7. And one of those laughing at you for whatever you said or did might be such a guy.
“Yes, we were! We were laughing at you. What are you going to do about it?”
Yes, what are you going to do about it? You see how keeping one’s cool is the wisest move? Unless, of course, you have spare jawbones in the cupboard.
Let them laugh; do what you have to do!
ETHIOPIAN HERALD 19 SEPTEMBER 2021