My friend Zeinab.

Dear Diary.

My friend Zeinab is an angry woman tonight. She is upset and feels disrespected. I know this because she called me up to vent, and boy can that woman VENT!

You see, in order to understand Zeinab dear diary, I have to take you to the very beginning. Zeinab is a young lady who has been accustomed to getting things done and getting them done right. Not that she was from a poor family, full of hardship and want, quite the contrary really, Zeinab was just taught from an early age to be aggressive and go for what she wanted in life. She got a job without her father’s connections. She has worked hard over the years, sometimes a bit too hard as she juggles even 3 jobs at a time. She’s a hard worker, and she has made peace with that fact.

So why is Zeinab upset? Today, after finishing her second job and attending a meeting after that, she walked into her home, where she was greeted well by her family. Zeinab loves her family. They are a source of pride and joy. However this time her joy was cut short as she entered the kitchen to prepare some food. There before her, spread out like items on a mat at a thrift shop, were last night’s dirty dishes. She could still catch the aroma of the garlic she used to add flavour to the fish that her family ate. She could still see the pots and pans she used, covered in stew. Her mwiko’s, her spoons, her plates. All spread out like wild fire. 

She knew that her help had bailed on her for the second day running, but that wasn’t what upset her to the levels that led her to call me to vent. It was the fact that 2 men, her husband who works from home most of the time and teenage step son were in the house the whole day and had not lifted a finger to clean up. She was at her first job by 7 AM and had left the entire household asleep. When she was at job number 2, they were home, ” I’m ‘sure’ doing something productive only I cannot tell!” She blurted out to me.

At that time, she wanted to yell. She wanted to rant to them and complain just how tired she was and how unfair they were to her, but she did not (instead the enraged woman calls me, screaming down my ear! Ah well, that’s the reward for being a good friend I suppose. Lol!) I don’t want to disclose too much of Zeinab’s life, that is the most she allowed me to share. I comforted her, best way I could and said good night.

As I stared down my own pile of dishes, I discovered that Zeinab’s story served as a lesson to us all dear diary, and the lesson here is this: INITIATIVE. That you don’t have to wait to be told to do something, you just go ahead and do it because you know it’s the right thing to do. Had the teenager done that then it would have lessened Zeinab’s work and she could have jumped straight into action to cook, saving on time and energy. The way that conversation ended, that family might have gone to bed dreaming of #GitheriMan wishing they had his bag of githeri.

Ever been in Zeinab’s situation? What do you think should have happened?

Did Zeinab overreact? Talk to me, I’d like to read your thoughts!

Live. Love. Learn 

Mwalimu Rachel.