John was a rather
creative character and always won arguments, the type of guys who will always
have a final word in any argument. However, he looked frail and was curiously
listening to me. It is not easy to advise a guy who was my manager at some
point because in his head he still had the mentality that am junior to him in terms
of years and everything else. However, knowing his status at that point in
time, I felt obliged to just say what I had in mind just to get the feeling
that I did something to save the situation.
And so I asked him, “why
are you so convinced that life in Taveta will be too hard for you, aren't there
happy and rich men there, what is it they do?” He gazed at me and retorted, “my
good friend, it is not as easy as it looks. People in the village know that I
was a big shot in the Parastatal, I even assisted a few to get employment
there. Going back to the village and having nothing to do there would not augur
well for me. It is complicated because at the moment I am reliant on my
daughter a lot who pays the rent and buys food.” he concluded.
I realized that it was
even tougher for me to convince him otherwise. However, I insisted that he had
to humble himself, swallow his pride and map out a way out of his quagmire. I
told him to compare his current status that seemed to be inviting death and the
option of going to the village where he would grow old gracefully watching his
grand children grow. After all, the villagers will always talk, whether you are
doing well or not. Macho ya chura hayo. After much probing, I realized that he
actually owned a 3 acre piece somewhere in Taveta where his wife was residing.
The land was idle. He further disclosed that his wife was working in some sisal
farm as a farm hand and the last she saw of her was 2 years ago. I jokingly
asked him whether he has a side dish of which he laughed uncontrollably and
finally said that those things I feel them no more….whatever that meant.
The John I knew at the
workplace was a creative guy who would get a solution to all manner of issues.
I recounted how he used to motivate us and insisting that we should always
think outside the box. I told him that it was his turn to think outside the
box. You surely must get a solution to your mess. If you don’t, who will? I
reminded him that in life, the biggest issue it to conquer oneself. The biggest
stumbling block is what you have fed your mind. It was thus important that you
start seeing yourself rising above this challenge.
Analysing his
scenario, I made him realize that he was adding no value in his life by hanging
around Nairobi where cost of living was really high and of course drinking off
his frustrations was tantamount to burying his head in the sand. Realizing that
I had no much time left before proceeding to my earlier destination, I posed
and asked him the big question. “What do you think are the practical steps that
you can take to get things going?”
It took him some hard
thinking but he amazingly recounted what he would do. In summary he mentioned
the following:
1. That he’d go back to the village,
after all he all along knew that he was doing nothing in Nairobi.
2. That he’ll convince the daughter
who has been supporting her to give her some capital injection aimed at doing
something of economic value on his 3 acre piece in Taveta. Further, the few
expected monthly pension amounts would go towards boosting what he’ll decide to
do with at the farm and also build a simple house at the farm.
3. Regarding drinking, he said that it
would not be easy to stop but he’d at least stop taking the illicit type. Fair
enough I thought.
The jokingly I asked
him how he’ll deal with the villagers who thought he is a rich big man in
Nairobi…He laughed and noted that he’ll distort the truth and tell them that he
opted to trade his usual life of big cars and posh life in Nairobi to settling
in the village now that he needed a breath of fresh air and to grow old
gracefully.
I started feeling like
I had achieved something, so after paying the bills, I stood and waved him
goodbye but he stopped me and reminded me of the KES 100 he had earlier
requested. I had been so engrossed in the conversation and had forgotten that
bit. I removed a KES 1000 note, gave him and told him to mind what he had just
said regarding the solution to his issues and was quick to remind him that one
of the resolutions was to quit illicit brew. With the widest of grins, he said
that 1k is more than enough for a few bottles of Tusker.
I took his cell phone
number and quickly disappeared into the horizon hoping against hope that I he
will take it upon himself to refocus his life and do something meaningful in
his sunset years.
How many Johns do we
have with us, some are our fathers, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters and
mothers? Troubles of the retired who never prepared well in advance. Where I
come from, there is a proverb that says something to the effect that a tree is
only shaped when it is small. We must plan for retirement and early enough.
In the
next post we explore how best we can plan for retirement and actually retireearly.
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