The other guy has his own beliefs. You might not like them. In fact you might abhor them. But then it is only logical to accept that he has every right to voice his thoughts whatever discomfort they might cause to others. Respect; that is the magic word. But unfortunately respect seldom happens. This is an old culture where everyone believes they have truth by their side. It is not only in politics. But in multiple instances most of us can talk endlessly while paying attention to the views of others even if for only a few minutes tests our patience. By the way voicing one’s thoughts and trying to appeal to the senses of others is one’s right. It’s that simple.
By the way, when you speak about your rights many sneer and even laugh at you. “This guy must have come from another planet!” A fellow goes to this place where his case has been considered and was in the last stages of being sent to the boss’s office. That, I mean the boss’s office, is a whole of a different story.
The fellow’s documents were on the table of one lady who seemed she was brawling with life. And when it comes to the likes of her who are brawling with life nothing seems to work out. So all the lady was supposed to do to verify a couple of points, which wouldn’t have taken a full five minutes.
So on the day he went to the place to collect his final documents she didn’t even look at him while she was giggling with a couple of other colleagues. He tries to get her attention telling her has been coming repeatedly. She looks up at him and blurts out, “Stop pestering me!” Whoa! At that time the way the fellow tried to make his case he would have been voted ‘the humblest person of the month!’ And she accuses him of pestering her! The guy was at first a little taken off guard. He responds he wasn’t pestering her and firmly adding, “I’m only asking for my rights.” She looks up at him with that “Here comes another one of them!” sneer and bursts out laughing. “Oh, it’s you right! You’re scaring me!” and she goes into another round of that knife-edge laughter meant to work on the nerves of the other person.
Now the guy wasn’t like many of us who just hangs his head and run to the nearest watering hall. He goes to headquarters and demands to talk with the GM. After the usual leg-dragging the boss agrees to hear him out. The fellow explains to the GM what actually happened effing his narrative with other faults he has seen at the place. Then he launches his ICBM; “Sir such things might appear on the social media and give your office a bad name. It was a direct hit. To the surprise the fellow and everyone the GM accompanied by two members of the brass and they rush to the branch office. There was one hell of a scene when the lady was ordered to go to her home and only come when she gets the phone call. Her immediate boss too got some dressing down and warning was given the next time clients complain those responsible would be shown the door. The fellow walks out a few minutes later with his documents signed and sealed.
Several months back another person went a step ahead at an office where he wasn’t treated fairly with, “I pay my taxes!” the whole lot of them laughed at him! But he too didn’t take the abuse lying down. The next days all sorts of things happened with multiple staff being slapped with warning letters. You just wish for better or worse we need more citizens demanding “I’m only asking for my rights.” “I pay my taxes!” Well a stranger is a stranger. I’ll tell you when you’ll be thinking of a long walk to the nearest tree shade of the Amazon; when the person you have known for three decades suddenly turns into incomplete stranger, a stranger who talks as if some chip has been inserted into his whatever and refuses to give you that breathing space to say a word or two. Of course the change is so sudden and so determined you wouldn’t find even a little speck of what the fellow used to be. The other shocking is the fellow seems to have slid so low you just can’t believe the things he’s saying. How in the world could someone as well-informed as he was end up in such a mess!
You know he has things all wrong but unlike previous times you know you can’t say any such thing to him. “Look I’m not saying that you’re wrong. But I think whoever told you that didn’t have the facts right.” Watch out. You are not talking to even the caricature of your former friend. You are talking with a complete stranger who might have dropped from one planet or another. It might be the end of decades of friendship when you tell someone who thinks he knows anything and everything he/she has it all wrong. Of course you might think “After all, he’s an innocent guy misled to believe his sources are second to none. He might not be misleading others deliberately. So maybe it would be nice to pull him aside out of earshot of everybody else and whisper, “look, I’m afraid to tell you what you just told us is all false.” Good for you. Had things these days been maybe all the bickering would have been reduced by more than half. But, they aren’t that easy.
When people think they can kick around clients with impunity; when people think the world should listen to them and keep its mouth sealed, there’d be no bright stars over there.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SUNDAY EDITION 20 NOVEMBER 2022