It wasn't me

The woman you gave to me caused this- Adam

What is it about we humans that make us quick to lay charges at the feet of others? This attitude is as old as the first and greatest sin; rebellion. Accepting responsibility for our actions is not something we are very good at doing and this is not something that's unique to this generation. Since that incident in the Garden of Eden when man ate the fruit, (I doubt if those fruits were apples as we often tend to imagine) and thereafter laid the blame at the doorstep of Eve as having instigated him to eat of the forbidden fruit, we have been inherently unrelenting in playing the abdication game; the transfer of blame to others but ourselves. This blog post is a story from my childhood where I was an active participant in the blame game.

As a child growing up in a small town, part of the memories that linger on even today was that we had pets. At a time, we had three dogs and a cat (Beauty; a very playful and dirty mixed breed female dog with fur, Bingo; a skinny dark tan male dog and Fedeco; the chief of the three that lived with us for almost well over one decade). The cat grew so big that it became a member of the wild cat gang never to be cuddled again. She disappeared into the night and never came back. This story is about the chief of them all; FEDECO. He was loved and cherished. 

The legend of Fedeco

One night, according to the legend, my younger sister who was always sickly as a child began to convulse in the middle of the night. My mum was alone (dad was out of town) and without anyone to drive her to the hospital decided to venture into the night to go take her sick child (my sister) to the hospital. This was late into the night and the fear of the night was enough to make her shiver and probably stay back (a risky choice). She ventured out and with the company of Fedeco made it to the hospital where help was rendered. After the treatment, she came out of the hospital and Fedeco was nowhere to be found. She asked around but nobody knew the where about of a dog. She went home with the hope that Fedeco was going to be found but the day passed and Fedeco was still nowhere to be found. Thought to be dead, she cried and wailed. Fedeco was gone. She was inconsolable. Fedeco came home after two days and our joy was immeasurable. Fedeco was a part of the family and his disappearance was major. Now that he was back, everybody was happy

The Maltina Tale

I was alone in the main bar of our restaurant. I was five then. My mom had quickly rushed home to attend to an urgent issue and was due back in no time. What happened next till today remains funny but in it lies the very essence of this piece. Man (young and old) is innately wired to blame others for his own faults. I must have tried to open the Maltina drink from the fridge but because of my feeble hands, I was not successful and so gave up. The next time a customer came in to buy a drink, my mom saw the almost opened drink and brought it out. She was worried and decided to ask me if I knew what had happened to the drink. My response was "it wasn't me. Fedeco did". My little mind having been caught ran out of lies to tell. My lame excuse was that a dog opened it. This event remains a big joke that gets everyone cracked up at the attempt of a five year old trying to play the blame game. In my case, it was lame but yet points to the true nature of man.

Fedeco was named after the then Federal Electoral Commission; the paramount institution that was responsible for conduct of election in the second republic.

Image Credit: Google