Breadwinners should be humble

We all know that old is gold and gold is money; money is honey and honey is sweet. We all want to lead sweet lives right? As human beings, we try very much not to interfere with anything that makes our lives sweet.

In short, all I am trying to say is that money is power! With money, you can even control the eldest person in your community; and like a marionette, he/she will play along to your music.

As a victim, all you can do is play along to the music or beat your own drums, which in this case, you do not have.

I know of a very close friend who happens to be the most financially successful member of his extended family.

Although he is not the eldest, his wish is taken as everyone's command in that house. Reason, he is everyone's source of income. No one in the family raises a finger against him in fear of victimisation.

My friend single-handedly paid for school fees for all his siblings, both young and old. He denied himself a lot of life goodies in the name of ensuring his family gets the best.

Some of his siblings are now married with kids but they still hold him in a high place for the sacrifices he made for them. I give it all to them for the good relationship they have maintained with their brother.

Unlike the other members of the family, my friend is never advised or dared when he strays. When he makes a bad decision, everyone in his family is quick to point out that their son is going astray but no one is willing to warn him.

They are just like the famous mice that had a bell to put around the cat's neck but none was ready to do it. Because of their brother's bad attitude towards correction, my friend's families have decided to watch him go down the drain.

Of course, no one wishes him bad, everyone is just afraid to lose the little favours that come with being nice to the breadwinner.

The last time his elder sister tried to warn him about his evil friends, her children paid dearly because they were denied the opportunity to come to Nairobi over the Christmas holidays to visit their rich uncle. I

t's true, some of the friends my friend calls 'his boys' are a time bomb! He, however, cannot see this because he has been blinded by.....oh gosh!! I don't even know what blinds him!

He is one very intelligent man and I always wonder what blinds him from seeing things we notice in a glance.

The other day, his uncle back at home called me (we are that close), he called me to ask about a certain lady their son was dating.

The accusations about the lady could make a railway line from here to Limpopo and back. She is a drunkard, lazy and above all has another man in her life whom my friend didn't know.

No one in the family had gathered the courage to tell their son about the true identity of his lady who behaved all well before him.

The family could not approach the 'bad boys' their son hangs out with for obvious reasons. That is how they ended up calling me, friends we had been seen childhood. His uncle wants me to tell him the truth about the lady if not talk him out of the relationship.

The last time I pulled such a stunt on a close friend, I ended up becoming the common enemy, so NO, I am not planning on having new enemies! Not during this festive season.

They forget that blood is thicker than water. As much as their son might victimise them, he will later realise that they are doing it out of love.

As I write this, wedding bells are ringing from a distance. My friend plans to marry 'Jezebel' and no one in his family has gathered the guts to rescue his soul.

He is excited about marriage, if only he knew that marriage is the only institution where you get a certificate before you start the course and are given another when you finish.

I will just sit here and cross my fingers that he never finishes that course! If he does, his people will never forgive themselves! Maybe, just maybe, all bread winners should have a humble heart! It would make it easier for the beneficiaries to approach them.