Good days have vanished

Chiedza Matenga
Poems, songs and folktales all speak of how the good days have vanished right before our very eyes. They talk of how those days were and how our respect for culture was very important to us all. In this day and age our generation is more misled than any can imagine. This generation is now wild and can easily do anything that comes up. Things have changed and so have the people living this life.
It is insane how a young man can go out with his friends and drink alcohol, when the curfew clock ticks he goes home and as he arrives so does his father, drinking too.

Not in any culture has this ever happened.
It has been said to be taboo it if happens, a father has never taken alcohol in front of his children because in the end this young teenager might end up doing the same when grown up.

The olden days expected the younger generation to be respectful in all its senses, greeting the elderly without giving care to location – in streets, on the bus in fact all over and to an extent stand up for them. All this was done to show some respect be it people we know or not, it is better to gain dignity the right way.

To do this in this day and age would qualify you for a lunatic.
During school holidays children would go for their holidays in the villages to visit their relatives but nowadays most children now spend our days in movie-beaches hanging out or watching television.

“We would go kumusha and be taught different things by ambuya and sekuru. They would help us deal with any unforeseeable pressing matters in life,” said Tatenda Murape (17) of Warren Park.

Gone are the days as we now see them as old fashioned, stumbling blocks in our lives, people who just want to hinder us from having fun.
What we call fun are the things that they instruct us against such as hanging out in bad company. There were no curfews before because one knew that they had to be home before dusk.

This has become the order of the day as long as one gets indoors before twelve midnight or as long as it is still the same day no biggie.
Church was one of the most influential places in any teenager’s life.

It led and showed the right path of what and how to do things.
Youth leaders were able to sit and talk to us about life, services had 60 percent youths in them. Today school friends are more influential with experiments and dares tagging along. Instead of going to church, a club can do the trick a night just before church. What happens there and with who is forgotten as soon as you lay your head on your pillow.

Precious Moyo said church is now for the elderly who “are serious about life and have already had fun”, if you check closely.
However, if we do go to church we’re either apping, chatting or walking around.

Gone are the days when we used to set goals and kept focused to reach them in life when we were so determined that what we wanted was out there and that we would get it as soon as finish our journey. School brought us all this encouragement because you knew if you passed, then you’re set.

Nowadays our goal is to make money illegitimately and be rich. It’s all about what money can do for you and not what you can do with it. Of course money has its advantages but not to the extent of being obsessed with it.

Back in the day when you did something for someone, you expected a smile on their face and a great feeling in your heart. It always felt good to do things for someone who did not expect it but in this 21st Century we expect many happy returns. We want glory for helping, we expect rewards. Guess what that expectation kills the joy of the moment. Be a cheerful giver.

We introduced our loved ones to our aunts and uncles who would sit us down and give direction. But hey! we can ‘date’ and do anything before marriage. As we now say ‘it’s a test drive to see if the engine in the car works’

Again we ask what the point of marriage is when we can do everything that married people do without being married. There is less self-respect and more competition going on. Although it is almost impossible to talk to parents or elders about this it is the only way through it.

Folktales, poems, respect, obedience, satisfaction and culture are now a thing of the past, yet it is our past that brought us to where we are today and that we should value it with pride. It is these things that we should never forget but abandon our ill behaviours and fake characters. It’s time to be real and be who you truly are.