The Tragedy of Modern-Day Greetings

5th April 2019

"Hi, how are you?"

I must have been a toddler then, maybe an infant or even a zygote, possibly just a spermatozoa hanging in a ball or maybe just an idea in Gods mind.

It doesn't matter, the point is, it was a very long time ago when that apostrophed phrase had meaning.

Long gone are the days when our cousin's and their parents would visit our homes.

Long gone are the days when when my grandmother would pack yams for me to take to my pregnant neighbor.

Long gone are the days when greetings were laced with genuine concern for our conditions as people.

In fact the casualness that underlies salutations these days can only compete with the absent mindedness that drives it.

In a time when everything is oversimplified, everyone is self absorbed and heavily invested only in their own progress it's rare to get more than a mere text of some meaningless remarks.

" Niaje bro ? 

 Safi Sana, iz vp?

 Shwari , Niko Niko tu

 Waziiii, otherwise?

 Kumaintain tu buda 

 Fiti, cheza kiwewe

 Au sio? Fully mwana

 Fully jibaba, skkrrrrah! "

Meanwhile, either both of them or one of them is chewing khat or something else.

It doesn't seem to go further than that, saying "hi" is almost a modern pastime or a formality for those of us well behaved enough to actually say hi.

The underlying truth is, there's a general lack of concern for others, there's a lack of time to objectively engage in other people's affairs and truly there's a degradation in the quality of communication amongst us.

This morning, when you say "Hi, how are you?.

For God's sake, mean it.

"Hi, how are you?"