Online Reporter
Fadzayi Maposah
Correspondent
After my bus trip, I got an opportunity to sit in the park as I waited for my friend. It was good. Let us talk about that next week.
What a way to introduce the article this week. I have simply copied the sentences from last week’s article! Why, you may be asking.
I just want you to know that I have not forgotten a story that I owe you from last week. I try to keep my promises. I felt a bit traumatised when I saw someone who had posted on their social media handle: “Handizi kuzokupai vazukuru kusvika mandipa bhasikoro ramakati ndinowana ndapasa Grade Seven!” (I will not have any grandchildren for you until you give me the bicycle that you promised me when I passed my Grade Seven examinations!)
This is someone who is more than half way through their first degree! I have written down that I owe you the park story and I will make sure that I share it. Each time you see a park, remember there is a nice story coming!
I have come to realise that we do not really know all the people that are connected to those whom we think we know so well. Think about it. How many times have you been at a function, a happy or even a sad one, and then you see someone and you wonder what their connection could be with the host that brought you together?
At times we try to think how the people could be connected. We search in our minds and crack our brains as we try to make connections. We place the people back to school days and think about whether they could have met then?
Then we look at the schools that they went to and we seem to get no connections. We look at professions. Are their career paths related or connected to one another?
We look at close relations, do the close relations know one another? Could it be that they have been connected through other relationships.
I thought of this yesterday as I walked home from an appointment. I have been taking a break from work and been able to do a lot of walking and resting in the process.
By the time the day ends, I will have walked many steps, sometimes within the confines of the yard, or outside. Walking is a good easy exercise. Besides the health benefit, there is also the opportunity to see what is happening around you.
So, as I walked home, I was busy greeting people that I know and don’t know. The ones who know me would then ask how I have been since by virtue of my work, I do not get to see them regularly. I am off earlier than they come to work, and when I do get home, they would be indoors.
Some of whom don’t know me, maybe be taken aback, wondering why I am greeting them. Good afternoon, good evening, good morning, are just simple words that people can simply exchange as they pass one another.
I bumped into two gardeners at their work station. The one that I know was being assisted by another that I do not know. I first saw the one that I do not know and as I greeted him, in my mind was racing with questions —what had happened to the gardener that I had always known to tend the yard so well? Was he on leave?
As I walked I saw the other gardener take off his cap and in my mind, I knew that it was the gardener that I had been looking for. I have known him to take off his hat when he greets people.
I have observed him from a distance many a time and he always does that. I was happy to see him. I asked about his family and his colleague that he walks with to work and back home. I was happy to hear that they are all well.
There are probably some people who have not seen me in a long time who ask themselves what happened to that grey haired woman? They may not know my name, but they wonder why they have not seen me in such a long time. They can come up with several scenarios of what could have happened to me. Relocated maybe, or changed the route that I use.
There was media coverage about sexually transmitted infections in one suburb. There is an increase in the number of people being treated for sexually transmitted infections. One thing that is given here is unprotected sexual activity.
It is possible that there are a few people within that sexual activity web who are responsible for fuelling the spread of the infections.
Just the way we stare at people at some function and wonder how they got to be there, who invited them for example, there could be some people with sexually transmitted infections who may be wondering how they got it. Their stories may not add up, the way they want them to add up.
Sexual activity should not be casual as we greet people that we meet out of courtesy. When we have casual sexual relationships, we fail to respect our bodies.
Sadly, some are not able to trace their sexual partners for treatment. It was a spur of the moment fling and everything seemed to be a daze. Casual relationships leave people with more questions than answers.
They are like the people who only see me and greet me on the streets, but have no idea of how to find me. All they can do is just wonder where I am. When we see each other, we simply exchange peasantries and go our separate ways.
The road on which we meet is public and many passers by seeing us in conversation may conclude that we know each other well. Having unprotected sexual encounter is basing everything on hope when one has precautions they can use to keep themselves safe.
Take care of your health.
Remember that the high STI cases in that suburb does not mean that members of that sexual web cannot have relations outside that area. Take care of your health and the health of those you love. Approach sexual activity with caution!
