The Request Room

Online pic. The baton exchange.

At home, the husband wants the baton, the wife has a request. They meet half-way.

There’s a place for everything. That is why it is irresponsible to say: “I want a divorce,” while the husband is driving. It might be the other way round, she driving, he doing divorce talk. It is the height of irresponsibility because, it might result in an accident with other drivers and pedestrians waiting for the traffic light to turn green. 

There’s a place for everything, especially family requests not ultimatums, like this example. Women know more about the house than men. That’s why they also decide which rooms are ideal for requests. Kids know it’s not wise to make a request for new bikes before daddy puts down his car keys and laptop bag.

I saw a ‘request’ movie at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). It was a short movie from Ghana. The wife wanted to make a request. The man gave the standard answer. “Can’t it wait till morning?” She said it was urgent. He listened and she pitched the request and it was granted. It was made in the bedroom. Wealthy families have big houses, but the request room is the same: the bedroom. I beg to differ, you say. Restaurants are also request rooms where men bend on their knees and ask women to marry them. True dat, but it’s not real life. It’s a Hollywood scene, now found in most Nigerian movies.

The bedroom is the only effective request room because of the relay. You watch the Olympics. You see how that baton changes hands. At home, man and woman want different things. What he wants cannot materialize unless she gets what she wants. He wants the baton, to grab it and run towards the finishing line. He must say yes to her request if he wants her to run faster towards him, with the prized baton.

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Executive Blogger