Growing up a member of the middle class, an in-built superiority complex was part of the package. Not intentional, not planned but just a by-product of the environment. You may mean well but come of as condescending or uppity instead. Sad but true. Sometimes it’s written all over my face, other times it’s in my tone and/or body language. Although, for the most part, I just do not like to be disturbed in general. If I’m having a lie down, everything I could possibly need is within grabbing distance or I convince myself I don’t need it. In other words, I don’t even like being disturbed by myself! Ask the wife, she’ll just say I’m lazy! So, don’t ask her.
Anyway, what does that have to do with anything, let alone elements, you might ask (there should be a ‘?’ somewhere in there, yeah? Not in here, out there, gosh!) Well, it’s that type of mentality – subconscious or otherwise – that has me intrigued when I hear something I wasn’t expecting to hear from certain people. Like, a taxi driver saying, “Is like this place is block! Let me just reverse back and follow an alternate route.” You can see how everything is wrong with those statements but the use of ‘alternate route’ in the right context makes me smile. Or a cleaner saying, “I didn’t like to use this type because the chemical composition of the something, wood surface doesn’t used to like that type of such.” Yes. Throwing in ‘chemical composition’ is like “WOW!”
My default setting doesn’t process them knowing how to use such terms in the proper context (shame on me), so it has me all giggly (I have a wife and child, I’m allowed the use of the odd girly term) inside. I’m like, maybe things aren’t really as bad as they seem. We just need better leadership and a more level playing field and there’s hope.
So this write up is about one such experience when I was again moved by the proper use, in context, of a turn of phrase (I wrote that last statement hoping it may be wrong and someone calling me out on it – any takers? No? Okay. Moving on…) that had me smiling. I was going my merry ole way when I came upon an accident scene featuring an animated man telling his story, at the top of his lungs, to the gathered crowd and it went a little something like this (for best effect, picture a rugged guy screaming in an annoyingly loud voice [like a bark] with saliva spraying, as his neck veins look like they’re about to pop, while gesticulating heavily, plus, if you can translate to Yoruba, all the better for the full on experience):
“I tank God say I de for my element because if I no de my element, I for done die finish for here today. Na another person for tell you this my story!”
I was seriously taken aback! He was in his element thus avoiding a possible fatal crash, amazing! It made me kind of sad to have missed the event because I would have loved to see him in his element. Was he like a Hollywood stuntman; a ninja; agile like a cat? What was his element? What did he do? How did he do it? Most of all, of course, like the word police (read: geek) I am, I was most intrigued that he knew what it meant to be in his element.
Shame on you, you condescending middle classer you!
Anyway, I broke out of my daydream to keep listening, hoping that he, or a witness, would be able to break down his element with movie like precision. And then, he explained it:
“See the okada driver way carry me, now. Shebi na ambulance come carry am now go hospital? That na because he no de in own element! You give me element make I wear but you no come wear your own element and see wetin done happen! Element de save life o!”
Is Form Five the middle class in Senior Secondary School?
I Am Random!
PS – I have heard it called ‘element’ on several occasions but that story never really happened. Not to me, anyway.
I Am Super Random!
I Am Random 