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Is this too much to ask over Christmas?

Lady Speak
 Photo: Courtesy

A while back,  I lost a very close friend just four days to Christmas under unclear circumstances (May his soul rest in peace). To this date, I still curse and grind my teeth whenever I think of him. Maybe, just maybe, he would have still been alive had he watched his back wherever he went. But then again, they say when your day comes, not even holding a Bible and humming hymns will keep you from shutting your eyelids forever. As much as this is true, we sure have to watch our step, after all, prevention is better than cure.

It is only human to throw the blame left right and centre when something happens. Yes, it’s always God’s will, His timing is the best; but that does not mean we should walk into the enemy’s camp with no weapon in our hands. It does not mean we should walk into the arms of danger smiling and making merry. We have to take serious precautions, especially during this festive season when all the ‘dogs’ have been let out.

Well and good if you meet your maker in a more understandable way, we will mourn, we will curse, but we will not blame you in the process which makes it even more painful. But if you are silenced while walking the streets in the wee hours drunk, if your car rolls you to death because you were drinking and driving, if you make merry in a pub then fight with your friends to death after taking one too many, then you leave us devastated! Disappointed is an understatement, regret and anger coupled with grieving kill our only hope of a Merry Christmas.

Everyone has his/her own way of celebrating Christmas. Some will spend all day in church, some will spend it in their homes, some will dance all day while others will drink themselves silly, all in the name of celebrating the birth of the Messiah. Well, whatever you do, make sure the angels do not celebrate your ‘birth’ in heaven too!

We have heard of hit-and-run cases during the festive season, thanks to people crossing the road in excitement and craze as if they are made of steel and all that has to be done to them once they are hit is a little welding here and there.

Some drivers decide to drive as if the only gears in their cars are gear five, five, five and five and they have never heard of anything as brakes. They race on the roads with fellow friends while high on different substances. Some are high on bang, some high on the famous sheesha while others are just too drunk to differentiate between a corner and a bump. Yes, they call it ‘kujiachilia’ because it’s Christmas.

Making merry in the wee hours of the night as you hop from one joint to another is not only risky but careless - be it on foot or in a vehicle. People have so much money and so little to do with it; thugs seize this opportunity and make their kill during this season. Unfortunately, most people who are this careless are always too drunk to cooperate during such incidences. They end up getting harmed and left for dead; that is if they are too lucky to be killed.

This gives some of us a whole new meaning of Christmas. Yes, our loved ones turn our Christmas Carols to dirges, our smiles to frowns and our happiness to sorrow. All because they decide to be careless in the name of celebrating.

Most of us spend all year running up and down trying to make ends meet. Probably, some of us do not even have the chance to take a break from work before Christmas. That makes us look forward to this festive season, look forward to spending good time with family and friends. We travel home to the peace and tranquillity that restores our inner peace. The last thing we want to hear of is sudden deaths. The last songs we want to sing are dirges. The last planning we want to do are burial plans.

This Christmas, we ask you all to help us have a happy one. We need you more than you can imagine. Drink responsibly, drive when sober and take precaution wherever and whenever. All we want to do is enjoy Christmas Carols, is that too much to ask?

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