Assumption:the mother of all mistakes


Quote of the day:
If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true is really true, there would be little hope of advance -Orville Wright 


I've had many ask me in the past if i could speak my native tongue. They always expect a negative answer so whenever i said yes it sort of threw them off a bit. So when someone asked me -again today i had this straight look on my face like, 'oh not again'. 

RandomChic: Do you speak your language?
Bratti:*with a straight face* Yes
RandomChic: Are you serious. 
Bratti: *blank stare
At this point i knew what was coming next...
RandomChic:  But i've never heard you speak it
Bratti: *thinking, i've got to announce to you whenever i'm speaking it uhn*
RandomChic: But you don't even look like someone who speaks it
Bratti: *double blank stare*
I was getting tired of the back and forth thing, so i said...
Bratti: What about you,do you speak your language?
RandomChic: Yes,but not that well though.
Bratti: *Thinking, so what are you breathing down my neck for..*

It's crazy when people put you in a little box. They stereotype you and then look surprised that you aren't doing what they are doing, or talk the way they do, or dress the way they do. What's more crazy is people that always assume you don't understand their language (think Rush Hour-'do you understand the words coming out of my mouth'?..), and then proceed to say stuff about you. It's never happened to me though. If it did, i would be at a loss for what to do. Reminds me of a story an old friend told me once. Dude was of mixed race (anglo-naija) with light skin, oriental features and curly hair to boot. lol. He spoke the (Yoruba) language well and was razz with it too. lol. 

Lets just say this cat was the last person you'd imagine speaking or even understanding what you were talking about in Yoruba.  At least that was the same thing some crazy random group of people on a bus thought too. My friend who had gone for holidays in London waited for a bus going to his route and when one finally came he got on. He hadn't been in the bus for a minute when the snide remarks from the groupies started -all in yoruba.  He didn't pay them any mind untill they mentioned the 'dude that just came in, and how he was feeling all that', and on and on and on they went. He was sitted behind them and they all had a good laugh at his expense, they didn't know he heard all what they were saying. 

So the bus gets to his stop and he proceeds to get get down. His usual self was like, hey it happens just forget the whole drama and shrug it all off. The razz naija (that'd be a cool username) in him was like,nah you have to give it back to them, no slacking!... So he steps to the door to get off the bus, he's looking back at them, and they are looking at him, he just took a one off decision to do the latter and then proceeded to give them the 'baddest -yoruba-tongue-lashing-that was-not-recorded-on-video' ever. lol. Them...the shocking and confusing looks on all their faces -Priceless!  

Anyways i was thinking, why is it that bad/swear words are the very first things people learn in any given language? I mean am i missing something here? We all know what bad words are, saying them is oftentimes taboo in different cultures-but we say them anyways,right? Men swear, women do it too, and hey don't pretend you don't know what i'm talking about -of course you do. Even little kids aren't left out are they?

So this post is about these two kinds of people really: 
1. People who never tire and ask a lot of meddling questions -get a grip and go find something creative to do with yourself. 

2. People who assume a lot -get a life if you haven't already. SMH.

3. People who stereotype everything and everyone and i understand that with these same set of people, swearing has become a habit - i've got no advice for such folk! Oops sorry just had to sneak that in. I know i said just two. lol!

Lastly,i leave you with the words of John Wesley -Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come from miles to watch you burn
Positive enthusiasm that is. Have a good week people !!




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14 Comments

  1. lol @ the MasterCard moment..

    As I prefer to say.. "when you ASSUME, it makes an ASS of U and ME"

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  2. yebariba... dis one is gbono feli feli bi gbegiri to jina gan gan!!!.. LOL
    Well SAID...
    @RocNaija, true definition :-)

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  3. @RocNaija,hey how's it going. I see you! What more can i say, you said it all. ASSUME.lol
    @Ochuko,lol@gbegiri to jiina gan gan..no doubt!

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  4. LOL @ Roc's defintion spot on.... Some peeps just talk first and think later without considering other people's feeling...

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  5. @Roc....lol, good one

    I keep saying I wish my kids can learn as many naija language as possible....just for the sole reason of knowing when people are cussing them out while smiling at them. My naija men/women know how to do that, if you doubt me, come to my village. They will be smiling and touching you while cussing you or your parents out, and you being a novice to the language will not know any bette

    stereotyping people is a job we all fit into without having to go for prior training. we do it consciously or unconsciously.at the end of the day, it still doesnt excuse the fact that we are (in the words of Roc) making an ASS of U and ME

    oh by the way, you said 2 things *just me being a smart aleck*

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  6. i am feeling this post.. you said it all.

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  7. @naijagirl,i agree with you totally on the conscious and unconscious way we stereotype..
    Oh by the way, those two things i said? i sorta kinda knew you'd go there *just me being funny*. i kid,i kid!
    @BSNC,you know i got your back. I see you too. Thanks!

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  8. lol! i love the quote by John Wesley -Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come from miles to watch you burn. Positive enthusiasm that is. and totally agree that assumption is the mother of all mistakes. People try that w/ me all the time. its either i don't "look african" (which is quite ignorant) or the do you even spk your language (which i do, i'm from Bayelsa)...it never stops. Sadly, i only know 3 curse words in my language... only my parents and my siblings speak it...all my cousins my age in Naija don't spk it...funny huh, the 3 i know i overhead my grandma using.lol

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  9. Lol, I wish I could speak my languages fluently *tear tear*

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  10. @Diane,people assume a lot.
    Funny that you only know 3 curse words,courtesy of granny. hehe

    P.S: That 'Positive enthusiasm that is'part, was actually mine,lol.

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  11. @Cappuccine baby, hey you could still learn,never too late..

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  12. LOL!!! That happened to me, went to a Zim house-party with a friend, I was on the phone as we walked in speaking Creole so they assumed m not Zimbabwean...the girls started talking about my shoes, my skirt, one dared her brother to approach me and now before he'd come up to me I just replied them in Shona that I had a boyfriend...looks on their face was priceless!!They still thought I was 'foreign'

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  13. I've experienced the cant-speak-ur-language thing too (so annoying), but I've had to handle creatively.

    Nice post.

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  14. @ShonaVixen, that is so hilarious. Imagine the looks that must have registered on their faces..tsk tsk*

    @Cidersweet,yeah it could be so annoying i know..nice of you to drop by.

    Thanks guys.

    ReplyDelete

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