OUR LOST HUMANITY (MY QUIET PLACE 36)
My friend Tony was recounted an encounter he had on his was home a few weeks ago. He had parked to take a phone call at night in a dark spot and barely 30 seconds after- it happened. PRONTO!!! A guy jumps out of nowhere, smashes his side glass with a metal object, grabs his phone, points the object to the other passenger who fearfully handed over his belongings as well. His hands were shaking while his friend just sat there frozen and staring at nothing in particular.
Everything happened so fast, it must have been in less than a minute. They said they were glad they weren’t out of the car because the fear of standing in front of this man was unimaginable. He stood at about six foot six inches. Very menacing eyes; a scar on his neck and cuts on his head. His eyes looked blood shot. I asked Tony how he managed to get that full picture in a one-minute robbery, he said as a painter his sight was his creative ability and he always leveraged on this strength.
Just 500 meters down the road after they eventually moved, a crowd had gathered and blocked the road. Thete was no way out and since they couldn’t proceed, they parked and came out. There was a swarm of people making a lot of noise and they could hear someone begging. A thief had been caught and was being doled out a taste of justice the way it happens in the jungle. He had snatched the bag of a female soldier in mufti who wrestled and overpowered him. He tried to outrun her but was knocked down by a vehicle on the other side of the road as he fled. Now there he was, helpless and powerless in the midst of the crowd.
A few people recognized him and said robbing people at night was his notoriety. He begged but they said they had had it. That night was judgement night. Tony moved forward and tried to beg telling the people that the fellow just robbed him pointing to the cuts he sustained from the broken glass but begged them to forgive him. That just infuriated them. Someone even said there was a possibility he was working with the thief because they couldn;t understand how the victim was the one advocating. His strory they said didn;t add up. He got a slap for pushing more for his request and just managed to avoid getting more.
In another five minutes everything was over. The robber was so beaten that he didn’t even have the strength to remove the tyre that was thrown on his head. The crowd chanted and cursed at the same time. In a few minutes it was all over. Someone alerted everyone that the police was on their way and so everyone there disappeared leaving just the burnt remains of the thief.
I’m in my quiet place (A place where I recount the encounters of the previous period) thinking of how Tony was shedding tears as he told me the story. He even mentioned that the man didn’t deserve to die not even counting his losses. I can imagine the chants of the crowd; the people hitting him; those that dispossessed him even of the stolen items (thieves themselves); the idle ones; the ones that helped with the spare tyre to put on his neck and also the ones that didn’t mind sparing a litre or two of fuel (not minding the cost) for the act to be complete. Then there were the gate keepers who waited as though to ensure there was no reawakening of the dead. Lastly. Those that hung around to narrate to those that missed the encounter.
What happened to humanity?
Where did it go to?
How did we become so cold to one another?
How did the wickedness of man rise to high?
How did death become so common amongst us?
How did life become so worthless? #MyQuietPlace#TurnAroundThursday##DiaryOfACorporateTrainer#WorkChronicles#Training#AllInAdaysJob#ManagingPeople#