THE FINALISTS’ HEADACHE

Wednesday 10th November, 2010

By Andal Collins

Old is gold. Perhaps this is one of the oldest sayings that have stood the test of time. Vintage wine gets better with age. Wisdom increases abundantly with increase in age. But to be old could be one of the most painful experiences.
They say the old hate to live but fear to die. This is the dilemma, the paradox of life finalists find themselves ensnared in. The clock is ticking away fast. It produces so clear a sound that it gives them a feeling of both ecstasy and sadness. To go or not to go is the question, but do they have a choice?
They have undergone the churning process and on the precipice of the abyss of the jungle of the competitive world. Starting a new life will not be an easy thing. Those living in urban centres will be ejected by their hosts since they will be old enough to stand on their feet. Without a job, each will have to rent a house, buy a mattress with the floor as the bed for a start since to have a bed will be part of their short term dreams. The ones in rural areas will think of travelling to urban centres for jobs after briefly sojourning at their homes that would readily catapult them off their backs.
Finding a job will be a job in itself. With no HELB loan to boost their lifestyles they will be forced to move from door to door seeking employment. It will not be a surprise meeting some in the streets, envelopes in their hands in the name of hunting for jobs. Some will be found in the parks, properly dressed, neck tie in its place, disguising hunger with a little siesta after a botched appointment with a- would-be employer. They will have to contend with the high fares.
Friends will desert them since they are viewed as the crème de la crème of the society who should be paragons of success. They will point them to their friends and whisper, ‘He is a graduate but where is the difference’.
Some will be indebted to the local mama mboga who will open a debtors’ book for these intellectuals loaded with knowledge and the potential for a good life. Later their names would be transferred to the bad debtors’ book. They will forego breakfast since paraffin must be conserved in the absence of ‘free’ electricity and the consideration of a coil as a contraband commodity by the landlord.
After a couple of years they will be old and golden enough to marry. Men will see no urgent need to marry even though the urge would be there. Their parents will pressure them, not only to send some money for their younger siblings in high school, but also to marry. They will look at the roof, stare directly at the web of soot in the ceiling, and clench their fists and swear- ‘I will marry when I want’.
The ladies will be worried about their progressing ages. They will look around for prospective husbands but the prospective ones will have sworn. The ‘unprospective’ ones will consider them ‘unmarriable’ due to their enlightenment and level of education. They will face the mirror fervently and swear- ‘Am Independent’.
They will need money to replenish the old wardrobe if any. Their shoes will begin to beg for ware and tear allowance due to the inattention by their owners. Some will no doubt be lucky to land themselves jobs. The jobless ones will meet them and wonder how old they will have become as a result of good life.
But optimistically they will later land jobs. And since they are the products of the society, the whole society, they will be expected to support everyone including the ones who were once envious of their achievements due to the extensions that is characteristic of our societies. They will be contacted in the wake of funerals far and wide and all relatives will want to know where they work and what they do. If they fail to support those that have raised them, they will be cursed.
These are some of the experiences awaiting most finalists ‘outside’. So people should not wonder why they lack the zest for life as compared to the new members of this little ‘society’. They ponder so hard their next move that there is no time to wear a smile. Look at their faces and you will see.

(The writer is a fourth year student in the school of Education)
candalitto@yahoo.com