Rants From a Tired Yoruba Girl

                    According to the dictionary app on my phone, tradition is an inherited pattern of thought or action. I’m using this medium to complain about these traditions which I basically do not find plausible. Keep in mind that this post is in no way about being woke, I don’t think I’ve ever used that word before now.

I had this friend who whenever she visited me would go down on her two knees to greet my parents which is commendable. And there’s my Dad who suddenly decided that I should emulate her greeting style. Her parents probably raised her that way but he didn’t. He didn’t raise me to kneel down to greet my elders so why would he expect me to start now? I don’t get it.

My little brother also had this babysitter at a time, who would complain bitterly about how I bow my head in greeting instead of kneeling down to greet her properly. If you know me, I think you are aware of how stubborn I am.

My mum says when she was a child, she would hold a bowl of water so her Dad could wash his hands in it after eating. She would stand there holding the bowl while he washed his hands. Why would I do that when I could just place the bowl on the table or he could wash his hands at the sink?

There’s also Mummy Cynthia who insists that my sister call her Mummy ( if you’re Nigerian, you’d know there are different ways of pronouncing Mummy, one for your Mum and one for other elderly women) rather than Mummy Cynthia apparently because Cynthia is not my sister’s age mate. Like seriously? This one is just funny to me to be honest. She says calling her Mummy Cynthia is disrespectful because Cynthia is much older than my sister. Lol.

Likewise, if children younger than I am call me Anjola, which is my name obviously, people around me will correct them saying they should call me Sister Anjola or Aunty Anjola instead. But do I care ? Absolutely not. Anjola is my name so call me by my name. These things are just irrelevant to me.

Lest I forget, there’s the left hand issue. Using your left hand to give items to your elders is disrespectful. This one was drummed into my head right from childhood and it has become a habit but on the days when I forget or unconsciously use the left hand, the scolding that accompanies such error is totally not worth it.

Why do the older generation place undue importance on such trivial things?

What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments section.