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What's plugging your ears?

Living
 Photo: Courtesy

What's plugging your ears?

One morning as I was riding in the family car with my husband at the wheel, I noticed a fashionably dressed woman waiting to cross the road. Her jeans hugged her curves adequately, not provocatively, and she had dressed her look up a notch with a boyfriend jacket and high-heeled shoes.

She definitely didn’t work in a bank or a law office but she was obviously on her way to work. Her long hair weave was impeccably styled and it was glistening in the morning sun. But... there was a comb in it.

Yes, a comb. Not a clean-looking designer comb but one of those hideous “tie-and-dye” plastic “jolly combs” that have seen better days but you don’t want to throw away because it smooooooths your hair very nicely.

My husband and I saw it at exactly the same time and, silently, feeling like a team of superheroes, we began our determined efforts to “save her day”.

At first we discreetly tried to catch her attention through the car window as she paused beside our car waiting for us to pass. “Excuse me! Madam!” But she took the chance to try and cross the road. So we hooted and hollered and waved at her to come over so we could whisper to her before she crossed the road but she didn’t stop. If only she could just turn her head so we could silently signal to her to discreetly remove the comb.

But it was too late. Now all eyes were on her and, by now, all the people walking behind her and those in the line of cars in the traffic jam had seen the offending comb and joined in our not-so-noble-any-more efforts.

Finally, she stopped and looked at us skeptically like any Nairobian would. “Why is a stranger stopping me on the street? What do they want to con out of me?” By now, it was no longer possible to save her from embarrassment. Everyone was watching and motioning to their hair and pointing at her. “Kichanuo!”

She removed her earphones. Yes, of course, she had earphones on! “Ati nini?”

Now, it was inevitable that everyone who didn’t know about her embarrassing predicament had become witness to it. The words had to be said, “Toa kichanuo kwa nywele!” someone shouted.

We waited for the look of embarrassed horror to replace the bewildered look on her face as she placed her hand on her head and discovered the comb...in 5-4-3-2-1...There it was, right on cue. She slipped the comb in her bag and waved her thanks before smiling shamefacedly and hurrying away with her chin tucked in her chest. She definitely had a “my embarrassing story” to tell now.

So what’s in your ears or mind or soul that is keeping you from hearing or seeing the warnings and red flags and advice around you? How about you take a minute to soul search and ask yourself if perhaps you’re spending too much money trying to keep up with the Jumas. Or are you too busy to truly stop and listen to the woes and worries of your loved ones? Or do you simply have a comb in your hair?

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