MY LAGOS EXPERIENCE... A LITTLE PUSH... TOTAL CHAOS...
So many people in Lagos State are on the verge of total mental breakdown, with just a little push... they just loose it... Such is the experience i had this morning, i am so thankful i was not the one in the young man's shoe... So what happened?
A woman was so 'edgy' and restless, she kept moving and moving, though she was sitting beside me... I felt like complaining but then I didn't... The guy behind me, adjacent to her was not comfortable with her moving around (imagine how i would have felt?)... so he did the complaining... And that was the little push she needed... She start hurling insults at him with a very loud voice, no one responded including the guy that complained... Then when she wouldn't stop talking... the young man probably felt more irritated, responded to her insults... and you can be sure, that was all she needed for total madness.... And then it dawned on me... She's not mentally normal...
In this part of the world, no one wants to admit their family or friend is mentally ill and take medical actions... We always try to ignore the obvious truth about our loved ones.
Someone in her family or her friends would have noticed that something is definitely wrong with her, but since mental illness or breakdown is the same thing as total madness in Nigeria, no one wants to admit it... To clarify, comparing mental breakdown to total madness is like comparing malaria to death... yes, malaria can lead to death, but until then, you don't say the person is actually dead because there is still hope...
After the whole shouting and screaming, she eventually stopped and started singing (off key of course) i think the young man by now realized it was a mistake to have responded...
As if that was not enough for my morning dose of Lagos Experience, the driver parked at the wrong spot because he claims to know the Law enforcement Officer in charge, but it appears the officer didn't care about that, he collected his keys and that led to lots of shouting.... and almost to the point of physical fight... like every normal person would do, i got down and decided to walk the rest... (Wasn't so far anyway) ...
This morning has been full of it, and i decided to share it with you, but to bring out a lesson from all these, the next time you feel the urge to complain about something or someone (especially a stranger), you should probably not complain... let someone else do it :)
And second lesson is, mental breakdown, or illness, when treated early does not have to lead to madness... Sometimes, all people need is lots of rest and someone to talk to.
A woman was so 'edgy' and restless, she kept moving and moving, though she was sitting beside me... I felt like complaining but then I didn't... The guy behind me, adjacent to her was not comfortable with her moving around (imagine how i would have felt?)... so he did the complaining... And that was the little push she needed... She start hurling insults at him with a very loud voice, no one responded including the guy that complained... Then when she wouldn't stop talking... the young man probably felt more irritated, responded to her insults... and you can be sure, that was all she needed for total madness.... And then it dawned on me... She's not mentally normal...In this part of the world, no one wants to admit their family or friend is mentally ill and take medical actions... We always try to ignore the obvious truth about our loved ones.
Someone in her family or her friends would have noticed that something is definitely wrong with her, but since mental illness or breakdown is the same thing as total madness in Nigeria, no one wants to admit it... To clarify, comparing mental breakdown to total madness is like comparing malaria to death... yes, malaria can lead to death, but until then, you don't say the person is actually dead because there is still hope...
After the whole shouting and screaming, she eventually stopped and started singing (off key of course) i think the young man by now realized it was a mistake to have responded...
This morning has been full of it, and i decided to share it with you, but to bring out a lesson from all these, the next time you feel the urge to complain about something or someone (especially a stranger), you should probably not complain... let someone else do it :)
And second lesson is, mental breakdown, or illness, when treated early does not have to lead to madness... Sometimes, all people need is lots of rest and someone to talk to.
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