Zimpapers Logo

Fadzayi Maposah-Correspondent

I was in a fast food outlet with a colleague a few days ago. 

As we sat waiting for our order, a young woman came with two very young children, a boy and a girl and placed their order.

As lady placed the order, the boy began crawling on the bench where we were seated. 

The girl decided that she wanted to crawl too.

There was a little contest for space.

When she did not succeed she began to drive an imaginary car on the bench.

 From the conversation that the woman had with the children, she was their mother.

The girl got up and rushed to the toilet, the younger one followed and the mother got up to follow them.

I know that one should not be judgemental about how parents raise their children.

I read somewhere: Parenting is like folding a fitted sheet, one never really knows how!

What may work in one family may not work in another. 

Children never seem to be on their best behaviour when in public places.

They are curious and love seeing what public toilets are like!

As we sat there waiting for our order number to be called out, we had opportunity to see different people come to the food outlet.

So many things can happen in a space of 15 minutes. 

There were some who came into the food outlet wearing trousers that you could have thought were about to fall, only to realise that the individual was very comfortable with the way the attire “dropped”. 

Some hairstyles are not easy to comprehend; all one can do is just look. They are just out of this world.

Despite the chilly evening air, some walked into the outlet wearing sleeveless tops.

Some days I experience hot flashes as one now steadily on the road to menopause.

Occasionally because of these hot flashes I ask those who may be with me if it is really hot so that I am sure that I do not have a fever! 

As I wore a light jacket and I did not feel hot, I was sure that it was rather chilly so seeing young girls wearing sleeveless tops left me rather confused.

Were they really hot or they had simply set their minds on wearing those clothes and did not to change despite the cool weather?

I did not understand why one could wear a sleeveless top when one needed a light jersey?

My mind took me back to a few days before schools opened and Chido and I did not seem to agree on some items that she wanted to be added on to her list. 

As she struggled to explain why the items should be included and I was not easily convinced, she resigned and gave up on convincing me.

She simply said “It is just that Mama you do not understand!” 

Calmly I responded; “I do not understand at all. Please help me to understand. I was born in the 1970s. I went to school in the 1980s and the 1990s. I have no idea what it means to be born in the 21st century and be a teenager during this time,”

I remained calm on the outside but inside, a volcano was erupting and I just wanted to blurt out,

“Chido you do not understand what it is like being a mother during such times!” 

I was able to control my temper and after some time, I was presented with “facts” that were to make me understand.

In the end, an amicable solution was reached because quickly as the older one, I was able to separate the minors from the majors.

The Y2K generation is one that is not intimidated by much.

Four young women in the company of one young man walked into the food outlet.

The five of them were dressed in jeans and T-shirts.

They chatted loudly.

Two girls and the young men went to the counter to place their orders.

Two girls stood near the bench where we sat.

“Let us use the toilet here,” one of the girls said.

“Let me get the package,” the other girl said and then she walked to one of the girls at the counter, whispered something and got a backpack from the girl.

The word package made me curious.

Package and toilet.

Suspicious words.

“Just get the package out so that we do not take the bag into the toilet. There may not be a proper place to put it,” one of them said.

One held the satchel while the other fished out the package. 

Ahaa!

The package was out of the bag.

A pack of sanitary pads which was already open.

Quickly each one of them got a pad, one put it in the back pocket of her jeans while the other lumped it into her bra.

They giggled, maybe they too were surprised by how fast they had put their packages away.

Still giggling one returned the back and they walked to the toilet. 

I had questions in my head.

Was there a sanitary bin in that toilet?

What would they do if they did not find one? 

When we were growing up, one was discouraged from wearing body hugging clothes (also known as tight clothes) when one was menstruating as there were fears that it would show that one had sanitary ware.

It was alleged that that the loose clothes were better and safer. 

Tell that to a young person today and then the statement “you do not understand” is sure to follow.

How can one be deterred from dressing as they want just because of a very natural process? 

When my peers and I do not understand, may the Y2K generation help us to understand.  Our order was called out, we collected our food.

In just 15 minutes, I had witnessed some circumstances that could have made me judgemental . . .