Aren’t you tired of people who try to dump their own political, religious, current affairs etc. narratives on you, narratives mostly dangerously ill-informed and meant not to update you on any significant issue but to benefit them one way or another! As we raised earlier you are out for a walk to stretch your anatomy and sooth the aches giving you some hard time.
Three or four of them practically block your way. If you’re not familiar with such theatrics for a few seconds you might end up with racing heartbeats. After all, these days despite the how well people are dressed and how ‘civilized’ they look it’s hard to know who is who. We’re in times where exteriors could deceive you so much so you’d only wake up from your trance halfway down whatever slope you’re sliding. Tough, real tough times.
Anyways such happenings could sometime fly off track and ugly scenes might ensue. People for one reason or another take such incidents personally and nothing less than some sort of attack to harm them and react with such fury things descend into physical altercation. That’s what happened with a fellow we know some time back. At the time he was so furious with his bugling veins telling the greater part of the story calming him down was a mini-project sort of undertaking.
Once the veins disappeared and the heartbeat normalized he tells us that these foul men literally stop facing him. Having come across such situations a number of times he just waves his hand like “I know what you’re after and I want none of it.” But they literally refused to let him pass and this time the fellow said, “I’m not interested, and tried to keep on moving. But one “heavyset guy,” these were his words, just kept stuck face to face with our fellow.
The fellow was so angry he grabs the collars of the King Kong ‘look alike’ (Ha!) and yanks him to one side almost throwing him on the ground. He says all four were so shocked no one moved. Without apologizing or anything he continued on his way. We met him hours later and he still wasn’t over with the whole incident. It’s difficult to justify or even criticize his actions because such things are so personal.
On various occasions I’ve come across in the streets some guys who, maybe not word for word, promise me the ‘Golden Key to Heaven’ if I joined their group. Believe me I don’t feel comfortable with such people. So I just act as if they didn’t exist and kept on walking.
These days it is not only such people who try to pump some narrative into you in the streets. I’m not sure what kind of marketing strategy such moves could mean other than practically harassing people who are moving around minding their own business and most probably a hundred and one problems having taken their brains hostage. Such things maybe they are the latest moves before the Davos guys come claiming us as trophies for their ‘Project 2030 or whatever.
I mean issues like religion and politics are usually sensitive issues which people rather keep for themselves. And when the lines are invaded by others no wonder they sometime go into ‘full metal jacket’ sort of combative mood. In the information age we are in, there are lots of ways they could send whatever message they have. Why, oh why, do they disturb you in the streets? Yes, during such instances ‘disturbance’ is the word that comes to many of us these days.
I don’t know if they do it in other places. You know maybe the industry works better this way. But the ‘street campaigns’ of banks trying to convince you to open accounts in the streets is a little over the edge. You come across youngsters who approach you with all the forms to be filled. You don’t have much money with you! No problem. I mean bank accounts or any such accounts are the most private things and doing it in the streets doesn’t at all seem a very 2030 sort of move! (Ha!) “You can do it with fifty or a hundred birr!”
And there are those who try to sell you all those of telecommunication services like sim cards and the like. Well those might not be as private as bank accounts as long as you don’t tell the world, “My password is…” But still being stopped in the middle of the street is not at all a good experience. These days there so many bad apples out there don’t blame us for being suspicions of such actions. Unless you somehow share some of the capabilities of the AI thing it is impossible to even suspect what actually goes on behind those big smiles.
“She is the friendliest guy you’d find anywhere.”
“How did you know that? As far as I know you two aren’t chums.”
“It is there for all too see! Haven’t you ever seen her smiling? I tell you when that lady smiles the angles must be smiling with her.” (Someone should send this whoever the lady!)
But things no more work that way. Smiles and sweet talks are no more litmus tests for real character. In fact they more than ever serve as camouflages hiding the real character of people.
While we are at it there is this discipline factor of the mostly young people running the ‘street marketing campaigns.’ (I don’t know where that came from! ‘Street marketing campaigns!’ No, that’s not me. I mean with the Chat GPT and AI scare pardon me for being edgy! Hmmm…) I’m trying the discipline of the young campaigners isn’t always nice and dandy. More than a few times I’ve seen youngsters by the side of the small tents promoting sim card or whatever actually dancing to blaring music! Andin fact at least one time I think they played heavy metal music right in the open streets! And you know all the stuff about heavy metal music! Not nice; not nice at all!
Anyways all said from the people almost claiming, without using the actual words, that they were sent through some sort of divine intervention to save us sinners from the overcrowded hell, to the banking industry army trying to convince us to open accounts right under the very eyes of hundreds of passersby, to the tele services sellers things seems to be the new normal and we’ve to learn to live with a ‘changing world.’ By the way I didn’t mention the mobile apparatus sellers who are nothing but a bunch of mobile snatchers, those who try to sell shiny watches probably taken from unsuspecting victims’ wrists, memory cards, and what have you because this constitute the crime playing out under your eyes!
Opening accounts outdoors! I tell you that would be one hell of a decision to make.
Ephrem Endale
Contributer
The Ethiopian Herald October 8/2023