What Makes Life Interesting

We’re not the same. Another man’s food is another man’s poison or vice versa. What makes you laugh may piss me off. It’s life though, no hard feelings.

But there are things that make living interesting. Especially in Kenya. Wait, not just in Kenya, but in this swiping, scrolling, sliding, selfie, and the famous memes world.

What else can you do with your smartphone during those dull moments? If not going through a few memes on either WhatsApp status, Facebook walls and groups, IG, or Twitter.

I’m standing in a queue waiting to board a matatu back to my room. If you’ve been to Nairobi, you understand how ugly such moments can be, especially in the evenings starting at 1730hrs to around 2000hrs.

To kill the boredom, I pull out my phone, plug in the earphones, select one of my favorite playlists, then hit play. I then head to my WhatsApp status section to see what my contacts have in store for me. As usual, I’m not disappointed. There are plenty, but I won’t go through all. So, I quickly skip the motivational speakers and head straight to the real stuff, memes.

I read one screenshot from Twitter, “saahi wakushike wakupige wakikuuliza BBI ni nini. . . si watakuua?” I’m still smiling at this one when another one loads, still a Twitter screenshot, one guy posts, “Mimi chenye Dp Ruto atasema nitafwata, sisi Kirinyaga ni Ruto damu.” He gets a reply, “wewe kichwa yako ni dispenser ya mate tu . . .”

I then realize that listening to music and at the same time going through memes will drain my battery quickly. I unplug the earphones and put them back in the pocket. The queue is moving very slowly. I hear one lady in front ask her friend, “madze, leo hizi nganya hazifiki?” She replies, “ni kama ziko kwa jam pele Ngara.” Then something more interesting pops up. I overhear two guys behind me having a conversation.

“Bro, unanusa hako ka harufu?” One asks. “hmm, ni kama nakaskia kwa umbali umbaliii,” the other one responds. “Eh! Hizo ni zile vitu tuliekelea zinaungua buda,” the first speaker replies. He then goes ahead and says, “ebu kwanza niingie livescore nizichungulie,” after a minute I hear him again, “man! Nikubaya. Kuna swara.” “Wacha!” His friend exclaims. I can’t help but laugh. They continue with their conversation saying how life has become unbearable.

I’m reminded of reading somewhere on how people are depressed. “Wadau, tuko kwa gari, msee amekula ndizi, akatupa phone nje ya dirisha akabaki na maganda ya ndizi kwa mkono.” I laughed, but getting to know the real situation, I sympathized with whoever it was.

I get back to my memes and another one pops up, “usha wahi fungua packet ya chipo kwa mat uone venye kila msee hukuangalia? Ni sawa na kuwa na dame BBW. Everyone gives you a surprised look but deep inside them they want to have a bite.”  I’m still trying to digest this one when another load, “ako na akili ama pia yeye amepost twa twa kwa status?”

Just the other day when rains started, I saw someone post, “hii mvua inafanya madame wafupi wanatudunga na umbrella kwa macho.”

If such things can’t put a smile on your face, then you must be in a situation that we can’t comprehend. I know they don’t necessarily bring happiness in life but make it interesting. Of course, there’s a bunch of other interesting stuff.

Just visit Twitter and find out.

Enyewe Kenya sihami.