Right from my teen days, I have developed the habitudes of observing and learning because I know I am not useful enough within myself alone really, only if I could try and relate with and through the outside world, then could I be meaningfully useful really.
[O how I wished you have seen FRINGE, a seasonal movie produced by FOX! There there are some characters who are ever bald, overly white, intelligent, all-knowing, not ageing and ever corporate! All they do are to observe the past, the present and the future. They would meddle with the balance at times or let things remain as they are meant to be. Look, their role was supracomplex, interestingly scary and awesome at the same time.]
Their role, ever since, even before seeing the movie, in real life, I have always love to exhibit by default (no exaggeration is intended). Not that I travel through time through some sophisticated device like they do, NO. But I could try and relate using what I look at as different from seeing, the past, the present and then project based on those facts predicting the future most plausibly, correctly. It is a simple maths to work if you would watch carefully, what goes on around you daily, God helping.
Okey, haven't you noticed too? O, I have been noticing this for quiet some years! Now is the time I spit part of the bean. I feel I owe them a lot. And I have got to start to pay. I owe them words of advice and encouragement against bad habits through my observatory role around them. O, yes I do!
They say "Seeing is believing" yes? But SEEING is not LOOKING. Is it?
I AM SEEING HER COMING OUTSIDE
Is quite different from
I AM LOOKING AT HER COMING OUTSIDE.
It is possible to see something and not look at it. Thus the difference twixt the two sentences is a matter of meticulosity, not to stress ourselves much on other grammatical technicalities.
Therefore, LOOK, when you look around you, you would see a lot of futures happening around you based on the past and on the present yet. For I have looked around enough, for I have observed them meticulously enough, I owe them and I have got to begin to pay them back with this. I have got to.
I have owed our teenagers some words of encouragement and words to make them take back the norms, culture, tradition, respect they have or are dumping because they are teenagers or approaching teenage stage. We passed through the stage and are here.
At different points in my observations, I tend to ask myself a lot of (rhetorical) questions on some of the things I see and look at in my community and society with teenagers specifically. I ask myself, that "is it the process of puberty itself that pinches away the sensibilities in our teens or that the sensibilities get lost along the line as signs of puberty begin to tell on their bodies?"
Then I would wonder further asking "Is this not the same Tola or Tolu I used to know?" A good one who would go to school dressed properly, greet the elderlies around and do the chores on time without complaining?" But now it is the reverse, as SHE HAS GOT LITTLE BREASTS apiece GROWING like tiny orange up her chest now. The same with the boys, as the tone of their voice begin to thicken a bit into bass, growing hair at the arm pit and the same to THEIR TINY PENCILS, they are already doing the unbelievables.
Read carefully (this fictitious skit):
On a Monday morning, the sun shined bright and nigh in the horizon. The clouds were very absent in the assemblage of the bodies of the sky on that disrespectful day. I walked out, out of my room just to clean the plates I used to feed in the previous night(s). Before I knew it, I was already busy whistling a song as the rays of the sun was busy scorching my back as I stooped washing. There was much water to tiny potholes right adjacent of me. I took no notice of them as they were not worth noticing after all. I continued to whistle on, the sun and his rays scorched my back on, could feel his hot hands caressing me as I was only on a brown boxer.
To my side sat two elderlies exchanging experiences on politics, just few paces away from me. There was another old woman to my right who sold kerosene to survive the rest of her needing life trying to look for another room to place her pail of kerosene so that the sun would not drink it all. Then there was the pitter-patter of legs running towards me, laughing alongside in a lousy way. There were four legs, two belonging to a girl and the others to a boy. These I noticed as I was stooped washing. One of them jumped on the water and it shattered right on my bald head and walked slowly across to my face, to my dried lips, it was so poisoning as tasted and stinking as smelt.
"What?!" Exclaimed I, having straightened up my back.
"The two of you, come over here!" They paused, reluctantly and approached arrogantly smirking. "Look at my head you two, just, just look at my face... What should you say?"
"What should we say you said?" She began to run on words -- "What do you expect us to say, Mr Bachelor without a woman to help him wash his poor plates? Are we the ones who poured the water there? So you want us to say sorry for walking right? Wait there, we will come back to come and do that, useless man, come on, let's go jor my friend" said the girl.
"Tolu, you, come over here, I know you are a very good boy. Don't let me ever see you walk with that stupid brat again okay?" Said I angrily.
"Brother e gbagbe. She has said nothing wrong at all." "Hey, seriously? You too Tolu" intercepted I, shockingly. "Yes of cause." Shut up there, when did you become so spoilt li...," " I'll report you to your father tonight." Intercepted vexatiously one of the elderly men discussing prior.
He looked at him mockingly right from his forehead down as if he was taller than the old man (who was then standing) and responded
"Baba, forget that one. Go and sit down properly, you are an old school now." He said and followed the girl in(side).
Then I was left in awe on a spot at the whole drama as they unfolded.
I faced the elderly woman who was watching alongside giggling and inquired "but mama, the last time I was around, those two were as useful as angels around this community, what has happened mama?"
She laughed boisterously, "There are differences now, on them, look very well, one has little oranges 🍊 growing to her chest, the other talks with bass tone now... They are teenagers today, yesterday they were like infants. That is why?"
So, puberty has caused many teenagers to forget the norms, the tradition, the culture and respect they should continue to exhibit. Well, should we actually blame 'puberty' itself, or the wrong interpretations that come alongside it with our teenagers in our society? The moment these features are showing with some girls and guys begin to check them out hiing them, they feel they can disrespect just any other person as they have arrived. Teen boys too who begin to call on girls begin to show odd attitudes, devoid of respect.
Puberty as signs that come along it should not make them disrespect, live life devoid of taking into consideration the norms, the culture, tradition, the value and common sense needed to behave properly. "Give respect to whom it is due..." Puberty comes with age. It dies with age. But in one who grows on putting these things in consideration well enough, lies the future of the society and credibility earned for oneself. Respect the elders, respect parents, respect the cultures and the likes for one who is a teenager today to become the dreamed leader of tomorrow. They should not let those growing tiny oranges and tiny bushes around their pencils make them do against what's morally acceptable henceforth in our community you know?
