Discipline. Punishment. Instruction. Training. Development. To impose order. Piki-piki (motorcycle) drivers. so drunk, have frightened me almost daily, but nothing frightens them, probably because they cannot see cars, trucks, or buses anywhere on the road. They hit cars head-on, hit bridges and trees that don’t move. “Don’t drink and drive” is something somebody says, sometimes parents whose child has been killed. It is a form of discipline promoted by somebody else. We see an average of two piki- piki drivers’ (young men’s) funerals a week. The dead victims don’t teach discipline. The funerals led by motorcycles seem to be saying, “See what you did? This young man would not be dead, it you were better drivers.” (I have no idea what they are thinking.) What I do know happened today. I have played “chicken” all day with people, driving in my lane, towards me, blinking their lights because they were in a hurry and they wanted me to move out of their way to let them pass. I thought, “Don’t drive like that! That’s not an accident you’re going to cause. That’s murder.”We have two dogs. We were away today. The dogs tried to dig up a twelve foot cedar. They have broken through a screen door and nailed black plastic, because they were curious. I scolded them. I showed them what they had done. Drooping ears and tails between their legs told me they understood the wrong. I feed them nightly. “Baya sana” (“Very bad!”) said in a stern voice was all, nothing physical. I think for my dogs often. They were thinking, “That old man doesn’t like a hole in the ground and a destroyed screen door.” I also know that Safi will eat Sijui’s food. I said to Safi, “Eat. This is your pan.” Sijui ran away, frightened at the sound of my voice. She thought, “Why can’t we eat out of each other’s pans? It is the same food. We like each other. Why is this human demanding we eat in separate pans? I will scream like I am hurt and run and the neighbors will know that this human is being unkind to me.” It was then I realized all opportunity to teach was gone, because of the sound of my voice. So I must be nice, but they interpret nice to mean that digging, destroying and shredding paper is all right. “God, are we humans like that? Do we misinterpret how you want us to behave? I don’t believe You have ever raised Your voice to discipline me.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Aug 2013 22:05:43 +0000
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