Mind your language

I was sat on the bus yesterday on my way home after spending few hours at university trying to get some inspiration for my theses. I always see different characters on the bus. Sometimes, I even think it is just dangerous to look at anyone on the bus in case they get/have a different idea on their mind. So I always carry a newspaper to bury my head in it. Like I have written some time ago, I have been a victim of unprovoked attack on the bus some months ago (by my fellow Nigerians!!!! Can you imagine)? I have been traumatised by that event. I even had to get counselling as I found it difficult to understand why my fellow Nigerians will attack me. I came to a conclusion that they must have been high on drugs. No other explanation befits such an attack.

So I am always weary when I see young black boys on the bus because of their erratic behaviours. So yesterday, these two scruffy looking boys got on the bus, before they even sat down, they were (mind my French) efing and swearing. The language they were using was just shameful. They were not different from the boys that attacked me, so again, I buried my head on a paper so I don’t get noticed (as some of them are so chicken to pick on boys, so they chose a very fragile person to attack). These black boys continued swearing, using languages that should not be used in public. You could see the disapproving looks on people on the bus. I started to wonder to myself, if these boys want to make it in life and come out of the stereotype associated with young black males. Why can’t they get education? After all it is free for them in this country. Why can’t they take advantage of what is there for them? Every time we hear how young black people say they are not given equal opportunities, they are not considered for good jobs etc. My take on that is why should you be considered if you do not work extra hard to get it? Why should you be considered if you are not good enough? How can such boys on the bus get good jobs if they cannot make simple sentence in English without efing and swearing? It really baffles me why some black people carry a chip on their shoulders blaming others for the misadventure in life. If you want it, work for it, if you want it, strive for it. Don’t live up to your stereotype which is what many do. Why be a gangster? Why kill? Why not make a difference? I may be naïve about events on the streets but I really believe that if change needs to be made in black communities, certain changes needs to be made in personal lives. Go get an education, go to school, read books, research, go that extra mile, work hard for what you want, live a good life. Many of us do so why can’t we all do it?