Why changing is always for the better If there is one thing Namibians are known for, it will be their resistance to change! I tell you, I have never met people who would at all times prefer their own “tried and tested” ways as opposed to new, innovative ways of doing things.Take my Grandpa for instance – he still prefers keeping his money under the matrass and no amount of reasoning can change his mind. I once asked why he would risk storing his hard earned money in such an unsafe place. Why would he not bank the moola, for crying out loud?
“Tate, why don''t you take the money to the bank where it will be much safer than storing it under that old and worn-out mattress?”
“Mwatje, do you even know what you are talking about? Mind you, that mattress is the very same one on which you slept as a baby. Even your father – that useless man who thinks just because he has a big job in government, he is a big shot! That mattress has been with us for many decades now,” he said.
“…but grandpa, it is not about the mattress. The conversation was about you storing money – like tens of thousands – under that old mattress. Why don''t you take the money to the bank?”
“So even you too think you can tell me what to do? Who are you to tell me what to do? Where were you when we fought the boers? Where you even born? Nonsense!”
I left it at that. Trust me, if it was any other person in would have probably challenged him until the conversation was exhausted. But not my grandpa – he has his own reasoning and knows better than any other person how to mete out a punishment.
The other day he told me to count all the goats in the kraal until I see which one was missing. After my third count I was sure that all the goats were in the kraal, but typical of my grandpa, he would not believe me.
As punishment for being ''lazy'', I was instructed to go into the corner and think of how my deeds would affect the drought situation and the distribution of food in the Aminuis constituency!
But he is not the only one resisting change.
Every time I get held up in one of those long queues at the banks I always wonder why on earth I do not do online banking. I see their advertisements every day – they splash it all over the TV screens, about how easy and more convenient it is to bank online. But do I listen? No!
Twenty-three years after independence, I still prefer standing in queues and listening to other people''s marital problems as I await my turn at the counter.
My neighbour, whom I have come to know as being a miser by any standard, has blatantly refused to allow his children to have the luxury of having a TV set at home. He is the kind that would send his kids out to play – even on a rainy day.
“TV, for what? We did not have TV, but did we die?” That is Papa K''s argument every time I suggested he gets his kids some DSTV. Some things just never change.
Then you have those Tates from the village who would always expect you to offer them your chair at a village function. Eish, these toppies drive in their own cars as opposed to you who have to hitch your way to the event, yet they do not carry camping or folding chairs with them!
But the cherry on the cake goes to when this Tates have to say something at a funeral. They would rise, tuck their shirts in, straighten their hats and ties, clear their throats and utter the first word that comes to mind…
“…hallo, is this mic on…?”
After that, they would dwell endlessly on how they have little to say, yet they take an hour to say these ''few'' words. Sometimes I think they intentionally reveal their ignorance as a bid to attract the appreciating eyes of the female species. Oh yeah, our grannies would be listening attentively and smiling occasionally to such speeches.
Whatever the case, let us embrace change – it will do us good.
Until then…
Tjatindi@gmail.com