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Your Kids Are Celebrities

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There are untold stories where kids go online to mingle with celebrities. Some celebrities turn out to be wolves’ in sheep’s clothing, and parents end up not knowing the graves of their children. Maybe they were tossed overboard, after men that hate women used them. Human trafficking involves kidnapping and other crimes, but it is also a conscious decision by women to take a plane and go to unknown destinations to meet unknown men or to go and live in P. Diddy’s mansion. They are not victims. Women hanker for ‘celebrities’ because of the camera. Your kids are celebrities for the mere fact that you gave birth to them. Celebrity status begins at home. There are cultures where children have surname poetry. They grow up with the family and neighbors using that poetry. As soon as the child says her name, strangers recite the poetry and the child smiles. It is poetry that places her in a certain place, with certain people. The poetry celebrates her. We grew up thinking grandma’s name was Kha
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When Friends Kick You Out

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Coming to Canada and U.S. to live with friends or relatives is not a good idea, because at some stage, they’ll think you are a burden, because life is very expensive abroad. Hopefully, it won’t happen to you. Anyway, m oving companies  look forward to spring and summer because that is when most people:   1. move from rental apartments to homes they bought 2. move from apartment buildings where tenants play music the whole night 3. move to other cities with better job prospects 4. move to Auckland, Australia to work at the Consulate of Canada 5. move to Miami after retirement to soak in the sun after decades of mischievous Canadian winters 6. move because of marriage/divorce or move to join the army It is very exhausting because of what is in the TO DO list: telling banks, the telephone/T.V./internet service provider, the government, hydro company, post office, schools, the gym, community organizations and other people you deal with that you will no longer be living at  702 Depression D
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Banks Promote Points Not Saving

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Over spending (also known as lifestyle) has negative consequences.  We might lose homes, cars and loved ones because - as they say in Nigeria - no money no romance. Everything has a limit except banks. They tell us to spend, spend, spend in order to accumulate credit card points. It should be illegal, like aiding and abetting someone to commit a crime. Responsible folks have a designated driver who will not touch a drop, while friends drink till they drop. Lots of liquor New Year's Eve and City Hall provides free buses, no fare. But we don’t try drinking and driving the rest of the year because highway cops pull us over and use digital devices to find over the limit. Not banks. One bank came up with the idea of points and the rest said Aye! Common sense is on pause in most customers, so let’s indoctrinate them with a simple strategy: the more you use your credit cards, the more points you accumulate. I don’t understand. It doesn’t work with cash. Grocery store cashiers and people b
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Embarrassment

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Embarrassment makes us angry, wish we could disappear, so that we are not connected to it. Some Americans will not vote for Donald Trump in November because they will be embarrassed to own him as ‘my President.’ Conversely, Trump supporters are proud of him, hail him as a true American and will sing his praises till they land in a prison cell. Embarrassment is internal. Parents for example. We may feel they embarrass us in the way they speak English. “Mom, we left Poland 15 years ago, and you still speak like this.” “Like what?” They embarrass us the way they eat and dress. Embarrassment is caused by new information that eating with your hands is ‘uncivilized’ unless you eat a hot dog or pizza; speaking loudly like people down home in Alabama or Onitsha disturbs the room and clothes from these areas are ‘country.’ We ate, dressed and spoke like that when we growing up. It was never a problem. Education kicks in. We find new information that says, it ought to be like this. Guess who wor
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Constitution vs Tradition

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What now GOP? "What killed an elephant started from the stomach." Yoruba proverb. Tradition is how we lived yesterday. It was determined by geography and how we collected food: deserts, mountains, Yukon, Africa, islands like Britain or the prairies. The Constitution is how we live today. However, tradition saw a rival and fought like hell. That is why some constitutions have no-go areas called religious and cultural rights. Constitutions are on paper. That’s why the U.S. Constitution in particular, has amendments. Tradition was made by men to protect land and possessions (women and animals). Today, most constitutions recognize women as human beings that eat, sleep and pee like men. What happens when there’s a conflict of constitutions? I don’t know, I’ll have to do some research. Polygamy for example. Men in Africa and Islam can have more than one wife. What happens when they leave their homeland and settle in Canada and the U.S? Who is the ‘legal’ wife? Tradition and Electio
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Tourists Don't Flaunt It

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Photo Credit: Online pic. Canada. An Ojibwe mother with triple blessings. The mobile baby carrier is called a tikinagan . As a tourist, slow down on taking photos. Take time and get to know locals first.  Tourism is for people with well-paying jobs and millionaires. The rest of the world visits grandma or cousins that live in another state, during the summer.   The new tourism is ‘be careful tourism.’ It’s 2024. Tourism spots have changed because of economic circumstances that affect how locals live. Beaches for example. That white sand you enjoyed on your honeymoon ten years ago might not be as idyllic as it used to be. There might be bottles and cigarette stubs. There might also be individuals on the prowl, selling ‘fun’ for dollars. On the whole, locals that used to smile wide like half an orange, have faces that look like tripe, in 2024. But how do they know I’m a tourist? They know, believe me. They know although they dress like you: ripped jeans, denim shorts and cropped T-shirts
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International Breakfast Hotels Abroad

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Try sorrel if you visiting Barbados or Trinidad. Real OJ should be eaten with a spoon.  I t's ironic how we love travelling but do not want to taste local food , served in hotels . I t is part of the adventure therefore, we must drink something that looks like orange juice because it will be orange juice. Some waiters will pour you a little bit to taste, the same way you taste wine you aren’t familiar with. Sometimes, we make judgments based on our country’s lifestyles. Eat fish for breakfast, if it looks like fish. Don’t declare war. “Fish for breakfast? I don’t think so. Do you have bacon and eggs?” I have just insulted the people of the country we are visiting and their food. The waiter mutters “Americano”  in the local language, and does not bother explaining that it is fresh fish, caught that morning because the hotel is in a coastal town. They have fish three times a day, not counting fish snacks. It’s unfair to Americans but seasoned tourists should be used to it by now. In
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