Why? - An original. Have you ever asked yourself: Why do dictators delude themselves that they can stop time? Why don't dictators learn anything from history? Why are journalists deemed as unpatriotic when they write stories that anyone with sense can tell are true? Why don't Gambians protest injustice unless it's their blood relatives who are victimized? Why would a mother trivialize another woman's quest for justice in her child's murder? Why do some people always manage to get close to power -no matter who wields it, in "doing their duty" or "serving the nation?" Why do we Africans think god owes us something? Why is hedonism the largest "religion" in Africa? Why would anyone sleep with his mother's age-mate for money? Why do we expect others to do for us what we ought to be doing for ourselves? Why do some people jump up and speak for everyone else without asking? Why do so many people have a heart attack anytime someone else speaks unadulterated truth? Why do some people have a "need to suffer?" Why do Africans value outsiders' opinions more than those of their kin? Why is it that virtually everything that is popular in Africa is an import? Why do women ask you to tell them the "truth" about their dress when what they really mean is "tell me that I'm the finest thing gracing the earth at the moment? Why don't cloth designers just hang their clothes on wooden hangers instead of paying fortunes to have human skeletons a.k.a. super models wear them? Why do many powerful men risk it all for a quick thrill with some lowly woman? Why are Africans so corrupt vis-a-vis public property when we are the most community-oriented people in the world? Why are corrupt public servants more popular than whistle-blower public servants? Why does virtue exit through the back door anytime (a crook with) money knocks on the front door? Why do we enjoy hearing dirty stuff about our "friends" and neighbors? Why are we more titillated by the silhouette of a naked woman than when we see the real thing? Why do guys who always ignore you smile at you when you're with a pretty woman? Why do some white guys frown at you when a white woman starts talking to you at the gym? Why do ugly white women who are shy around white guys jump at you -as if you won't notice or somethin'? Why do magazines and newspapers always tell us "secrets" if the news is so secret? Why is the neighborhood gossip the most loved and hated character you can find? Why do we think what happened to Jose' can never happen to us? Why do we love to hear about others what we hate to be told about us? Why do some people feel jealous or even hate people in positions/with titles that they're dying to get? Why would people who live in the shadow of the Kilimanjaro go hungry? Why should island people like Banjulians have a drinking water problem? Why do we complain about racism when we are prone to the same prejudices? Why do we blame White Supremacists when we feel and act superior to each other? Why do we complain about job discrimination when many of us are where we are because of nepotism? Why are the most virulent anti-white African women the ones who imitate white people the most? Why should a woman wearing a "Black Pride" T-shirt, or a Rasta be bleaching her skin at the same time? Why should a national or Pan African leader be married to such a woman? Why is it that Black men who make the most anti-white noise are the ones who can't live without light skin (Imitation-White) women? Why do we always seem to jump from the frying pan to the fire in terms of our leaders? Why do some people delude themselves that they can fool an entire nation all the time? Why do some people act as if they have a monopoly on intelligence? Why is money always hard to come by when you really need it? Why is money easy to come by when you least need it? Why does god allow such disparity in global wealth if he loves all people equally? Why are the most ungodly people, the most happy? Why should a president's son's life turn out to be worse than his butler's? Why do we need a big brain when most of us use less than 5% of it in our lifetime, while many are allergic to using it at all? Why do many men call themselves "Man of the House" when they neither have a house, nor qualify as a real man? Why do people always confuse "father" with "Dad?" Why are so many pretty women attracted to illiterate punk-ish men? Why are the most truthful people deemed the most "controversial?" Why do we all think our individual problems are the biggest there is? Why do we believe that our sins are minor compared to everyone else's? Why is sin a lot more fun than being virtuous? Why are people who flaunt their piety always the most hypocritical? Why do pretty women look so ordinary after they've been generous to you a few times? Why don't anyone call Jesus Christ a donkey because he was born in a stable? Why do people call themselves "lucky" for having ten children when they can hardly feed themselves, let alone some extra mouths? Why does Mother Pigeon thinks her two offspring are more valuable to her than Mother Hen's dozen are to her? Why do people with the most questionable reputation worry most about someone else damaging their reputation? Why is sex so taboo when it's so abundant? Why don't we call kittens born on a pillar "cat-a-pillar?" Why do we fear truth so much when it's only through it that we can make it? Why do we have such an acrimonious political climate when there are so many Desmond Tutus among us? Why is it so hard to find a good woman, and equally hard to let go of a bad one? Why do people kill each other only to preside over misery in a dysfunctional nation? Why are we so complacent with mediocrity? Why do so many of us settle for a dollar when we could easily be making five with some little extra effort? Why would a respectable lawyer's wife dump her husband to be a millionaire fool's play toy? Why can't some people help themselves when it comes to lying? Why is a single honorable person's conviction stronger than an alliance of a dozen unscrupulous characters? Why do Americans call their sport "Football" when neither a ball, nor the feet have much to do with the game? Why do African women talk for hours on the phone about their mutual friends? Why is it that the sorriest people are always the ones who feel "sorry" for someone else? Why would a person on the brink of execution complain about being scratched? Why does god see it fit to give us a Gatsha Buthelezi when all we want is a Nelson Mandela? Why are we so blind to the fact that "we" are the losers when the majority of our people are mired in misery? Why? Why? Why? Saul Saidykhan Virginia, February 2000. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------