Oh baby
Oh baby
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Use your number 6
Use your number 6
Common sense is not common.
This was a popular song back then in my neighbourhood while growing up.
I remember being a very intelligent girl who always topped the class and got lots of gifts on award ceremonies and prize-giving days.
There was a problem I had however, I lacked common sense.
There were so may things that were expected of me as an individual.
There were so many things i needed to know or common sense should have told me but I didn't know because according to my mum"common sense is not common".
My mum would make me feel so bad by telling me intelligence and scoring good grades were not an evidence of having sense.
The last straw that broke the camel's back was when I told her I felt like eating boiled egg.
She asked that I should boil about 5 for the whole house.
I got the eggs washed and was about to add water to the pot to boil them when she asked me this question.
If an egg takes five to seven minutes to get boiled(hard done),how many minutes will it take for five eggs.
With my knowledge of mathematics and quantitative reasoning,I played the sharp girl card and multiplied five by five and then five by seven.
"Twentyfive to thirtyfive minutes mummy", I said.
She smiled at me without uttering even a word.
I placed the eggs in the pot with water which i felt was just enough and set the timer for 25 minutes.
Common sense didn't tell me to check the pot from time to time because the quantity of water was small and could dry up.
Common sense did not also intimate me that I was boiling the eggs in groups and not individually so it would take equal time.
After twentyfive minutes,not only did the pot get burnt with the eggs,the whole kitchen was full of smoke.
I thanked God i did not get to burn down the kitchen in my senselessness.
The beatings I recieved that day cannot be compared to anything else.
My back almost peeled because the force was like that of a falling pillar
Mum was screaming and scolding in ibibio as she flogged sense into me.
It was non negotiable,I just needed common sense
Meaning
These were her words as the beatings increased
I learnt the application of common sense the hard way,I learnt to think deep and look far.
That was how I ended up in a boarding school where I learnt all forms of sense.
Today I am very intelligent,wise,sensible and logical.
The most touching lesson I learnt in all these is that the answer to life's questions are not far fetched.
If you don't know a thing,don't cover up your ignorance, ask.
Well,I hope you enjoyed this piece.Thank goodness it's all fiction.Have a lovely day ahead.
