We Kenyans pride ourselves in our high levels of literacy which is very true. We can hold converstions with anyone on anything under the sun.
But when it comes to the basic etiquette, ours stinks to the highs! We are rude, impolite and ride roughshod over one another. Simple words which mean a lot like sorry, please, excuse me, thank you dont exist in our vocabulary at all.
Go to any kiosk and chances that you will hear ' nataka mkate' (give me bread)from a buyer is 99%. Our motorists have a world class rudeness: they don't use indicators, cut into lanes, jump lanes, hoot uncontrollably and what have you. In banks, we all want to jump queues while the banks themselves will not even have washrooms for their customers!
This is unlike our Tanzanian brothers who are in a class of their own when it comes to politeness. Words like 'naomba, tafadhali, kwa hisani yako........ are normal day to day lingua franca. Try it here in Kenya and heads will turn, in any case we have a President who insults the very people who have put him in a job 'pumbavu' (fools)!
Being polite costs nothing but the benefits are immense. There was an advert that used to go ' a little courtesy wont hurt...'
I rest my case.
The good thing is that Kenyans keep it real. TZ peeps may seem polite but that is only on the surface, they dislike anyone who isnt one of their own.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny hata kama ni ukweli mtupu. Is it because of Ujamaa?
ReplyDeleteI don't know but, i thogt that"we" were afadhali. umeshaa enda Stato; mazee unaongea juu ya kuwa "rude", mkidi wa miaka 5 is a disaster.
ReplyDeleteBlog yako ni kama yangu.... HEEE, HEEE, HEEE; USIJALI NITA BADILISHA SAA HIVI........
Wambui Wa Wangari.