Nigeria & Public Transit

What up people?

I think I definitely caught the mega million lotto bug this week for sure people. I actually made a couple of trips to the local bodega and bought what I knew for sure to be the winning tickets only to wake up to the disappointing news, “You Are Not the Winner”. I mean a percentage of the $500 million would have sufficed but hey what is a BRAVEHEART like me to do but to keep on trying and go after the next jackpot. I did hear someone in Missouri took the prize, I think I am happy for them but SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEIT I would have been two stepping all over my living room floor if the outcome was in my favor. So now that I am getting a better understanding of the whole lotto bonanza am calling it early now people, I will be taking home a jackpot at some point in 2013. WATCH…WATCH.

Ok people; Let me get focused…

I normally drive to and from work everyday in the DMV. I mean to be honest I drive to anywhere and everywhere pretty much and I love it. Today though I took public transit and was on the train and all I could think about was if only Nigeria one day could grow its infrastructure to the point that public transit back home in Lagos can be looked upon as an asset not a death sentence for people. I revisited so many fun childhood memories today riding the train; like when my brother and I would run down the big yellow DANFO buses in our school uniform and sandals to make it to the morning assembly just in time to avoid that whipping in front of the student body and on our return leg home we would hop on buses with no bus fare in our pockets only hoping to be saved by an adult that would allow for us to sit on their lap. NWO! Nigeria the land of the infamous “No LAPPING o” SMH.

Seriously my experience today riding the train was a much needed respite. It was so peaceful that I took the opportunity to walk a d**m near mile home after getting off at my stop in the freezing cold weather outside. The reality of public transit in Nigeria is a combination of the zoo, circus and everything in between. Nothing is ever civil amongst patrons. The hustle and bustle of it all just wears on you. I mean you could leave your house clean, fresh to death looking like a million bucks but by the time to make it to your destination you look a hot tired mess in part because of hostile and highly aggressive climate you find yourself in during the commute. 

Sitting in front of me on the train this morning was a young aged school boy with his backpack. He seemed at peace and reserved as he was commuting by his lonesome with not a visible concern or worry that I could detect. For an instant, I thought about all the young aged school boys and girls that never get to experience this level of calm and tranquility on there morning travel to school back home. The idea of being able to get on a bus or train in en route to school and only have to focus on academics should not be viewed upon as a luxury and exception to the rule but the standard. I don’t know the last time anybody got on a bus in Nigeria and witnessed people just reading newspapers, listening to iPods or conversing in a civil non-threatening manner. Your typical public transit commute in Nigeria will routinely have some type of mechanical failure or tire malfunction, fumes and spoke pumping out the exhaust into the atmosphere and like two to three passengers dangling on the door step all the way to the final destination.

I can only wish

The Black Friday HYPE

What up people?

I think I am suffering from a little turkey day hang-over people. Going through one of those I aint doing a d*** thing, I aint moving a muscle and you gonna have to beat me with a stick to move me from my couch modes. But seriously, I hope everybody made the most out of their time with family on turkey day. I had a FANTANSTIC Thanksgiving. Now before I get into this week’s post I was asked by one of my advisors to remind you all to stay true to your character and core at all times. We all know there are fake people amongst us everywhere, the test is weeding out the baggage that try to consume us with their garbage.  

Ok people; Let me get focused…

I made an executive decision to stay home today on Black Friday in order to avoid the madness outside. As I was watching the news broadcast I came across a story in Florida where two people were shot over a parking space dispute and just started to chuckle at the foolish behaviors of people. Quick fact; Walmart this year on Black Friday alone processed nearly 10 million register transactions and almost 5,000 items per second between 8-12 according to another report. NWO!

Now can somebody explain to me how we go through a whole year of election campaigns, debates over tax cuts, fiscal cliff looming and a steady growth in unemployment to now an uptake in consumer buying all in the name of Black Friday? Massive projected sales and big spending have already shattered records of years past and we are only in day one of the holiday mayhem.

In our so called pursuit of the perfect deal, it kills me how the black and minority communities continue to volunteer themselves all in the grand scheme of keeping us in further debt. I am “Nigerian & Black” so I guess I at times suffer from a case of double financial ignorance when it comes to money management and long-term financial stability. Let me make something very clear, I know not saying all Nigerians or all black people are inept when it comes to spending money or managing their finances. However, I can comfortably say living 35 years of my life in both distinct communities and cultures has proven that we like nice things and we will go through great lengths, even at the expense of our own inconvenience at times to own certain material possessions.   

Sensible and prudent shoppers this time of year do their research and apply these rules as they start their holiday shopping;

1. Cyber Mondays offer better or just as good enough options for consumers.

2. Black Friday is not the busiest day of shopping of the year as falsely advertised. 

3. Most major retail chains start their Black Friday sales actually before the day after Thanksgiving.

4. Sorry to disappoint you all but there are never any freebies as advertised.

5. Those same deals you spend hours/days camping outside stores are typically available on-line.

6. Retail companies actually compete against one another and do offer matching pricing options 

7. Retail stores typically do not offer/honor return policies on Black Friday purchases.

$hop $mart

JINX - SUPERSTITION

What’s up people?

We are fast approaching Thanksgiving week and it is by far the BEST holiday in the United States.  There is so much to be thankful for everyday and for this reason the holiday helps one to reflect and pause for all of God’s work and blessings in our lives. Life is Good!  The food, NFL Football and desserts aint too bad either now so it is time to go Gobble Gobble Turkey Gobblers and get your feast on. Let us keep it REAL FAKE, 80% of you all will be knocked out on your sofas after that first plate of Turkey, Gravy and Mac & Cheese hits the spot.       

Ok people; Let me get focused…

Let’s have some fun and light humor this week people. I was coming out of prayer today and as I was strolling down the sidewalk heading to my vehicle I saw a Black Cat heading in my direction and like a little girl, I quickly got off the sidewalk and re-routed. So this got me to thinking about a conversation I was having earlier in the week with one of my dearest friends, I commonly refer to him as the “HUMAN JINX”. I mean this is not too much of a reach, his from South Jersey/Philly so his a Sixers, Eagles, Redkskins, Nets, and Phillies fan and all that part of the country has known in the past 25 years is LOSING. Want to make some GURANTEED money??? It is really simple; take him to Vegas with you and the minute he goes on the record and starts talking sports and tells you about what/who/why he likes or believes in something all you have to do is the OPPOSITE and you can take it to the bank. You will be a happy customer TRUST ME. Now I will say this about my big brother, the boy knows his boxing and UCF. He so good we call him “The Fight Doctor”.

Now he is not the only person that I have studied over the years that has proven to demonstrate jinx/superstition type behaviors. I mean I have family members who only sit in certain couches and rooms or wear only particular clothing apparel when their sporting teams are playing. I also have another family member that likes to play with tissue as a means to stay distracted in order to accomplish the task at hand. The funniest ones are family/friends of mine that believe that by not watching or listening to a sporting event, even the Election Day results that just concluded somehow the final results will be in their favor. Yup those are my PEOPLES. SMH!

The word jinx is commonly understood as a thing or person that brings bad/good luck. Wikipedia defines a jinx, in popular superstition and folklore as a type of curse placed on a person that makes them prey to many minor misfortunes and seems to attract them to anyone in his/her vicinity. You can also apply the same term when defining the word superstition but only in a positive light. We can trace the origins of jinx/superstitions all the way back to Greek mythology, oral and literary traditions of the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, nature and history of the universe. Those tales spoke to the creation of the gods and the world, the struggle among the gods for supremacy and there love affairs and quarrels. This stuff gets me hyped just thinking about it. I know that is the generation and era I belong to, MEN handling their BINNESS like MEN. 

Commonly Prescribed to JINX/SUPERSTITIONS

The Itchy Palm (My Brother’s Favorite)

Beginner’s Luck (Someone say Dealer BUST!)

Find a Penny, Pick it Up… (Not in Nigeria)

Don’t Walk under Ladders (You must be Bored)

A Rabbit’s foot will bring you Goodluck (This Must be Jonathan’s)

Death/Bad News comes in Threes (This one always worries me)

666 (Aint this the Devil)

Knock on Wood (I keep knocking…)

Cross your Fingers (Is this suppose to be timed?)

No Umbrellas inside the House (This Old School)

Friday 13^th (Only in America)

 

EVERYBODY is a WINNER.

U Gets NO PROPS!

What up people?

Hope all my peoples have recovered from their post general election hangover. Question, whatever happened to the whole America is not divided by “BLUE vs. RED” state gibberish I once heard from our famous leader back in a national convention years ago? Question, why are all these yahoooooooze Nigerians putting more energy and time into the United States presidential race over the elections set to kick off in Nigeria in the coming year? Our focus and priorities are all over the place I swear.

Here in the “Capital P” campaign headquarters we are also celebrating. We give thanks to the man up above for keeping us together and pulling us through during such difficult and trying times. All Praises to the MOST Merciful. So it turns out that the road to 270 and determining the next President of the United States was right here in my backyard all along. I mean for all the grief I have taking over the years for being “Mr. Mo County” who knew all the two political giants had to do was cut me a check I would have personally delivered them the 270 electoral votes each candidate so desperately needed. I always knew I lived in one powerful a** county so thank you for the confirmation America.

Ok people; Let me get focused…

One of my biggest pet peeves is people wanting to be acknowledged, recognized or getting credit for doing what there suppose to do. I come across this bulls**t everyday. Case in point, when did it become the exception to the rule to do the RIGHT THING not the cool thing like how we have made the act of VOTING? To make this point more succinct I had to pull a quote from the comedian Chris Rock in one of his stand-up specials. "N*****s always want credit for some s**t they're supposed to do, "They'll brag about stuff a normal man just does. They'll say something like, 'Yeah, well, I take care of my kids.' You're supposed to, you dumb motherf**ker. 'I ain't never been to jail.' Whaddya want? A cookie? You're not supposed to go to jail, you low-expectation-having motherf**ker!”

In all honesty this is the state of affairs for too many people (men & women) everywhere. By no means I my trying to rain on anybody’s parade for that matter but the next time you find it necessary to call up the radio station, tweet or update your status on facebook, I ask that you take the time to think about the message you give out and the standards you have set for yourself.

Still unclear; here is a list of things one should NEVER consider broadcasting to the general public as you tend to make an a** of yourself:

I go to work!

I pay my taxes!

I’ve never done Drugs!

I pay my bills on time!

I clean my house!

Some things are meant to be kept to thyself.

You Are Not In Control

What’s up people?

I must say that the highlight of my week thus far was catching the pre-game festivities of the Boston Celtics versus Miami Heat NBA game this past Tuesday night. Seeing and watching Kevin Garnett (KG) totally disregard or acknowledge Ray Allen’s existence as he walked up to him and tried to shake his hand took me back to the days when little boys grew up to be men who value principles such as FAMILY, LOYALTY, HONOR and INTEGRITY. Now I don’t know KG on a personal level to speak to his character per say, I mean after all his just an NBA player. How tough or bout it can he really be? I will say that moment in itself did show me all I need to know about the dude. His a RIDER & he will RIDE-OUT for his people. We all need people or someone that you can go into the foxhole with and you know will have your back. They don’t make men like they use anymore. Too many of these dudes today are NOODLES.

Ok people; Let me get focused…

It is time that we ALL start to take advisory warnings more seriously. Like many people I am too quick to brush off any news report. We get so inundated with media hype relating to brewing natural disasters that my first response is “Ain’t nuffin’ happening to me”.  It is so bad that my brother for like 10 years running now is always nagging and sweating me to make sure I get flood insurance. He swears by this flood insurance as if it is a new iPhone 5. And I just love whenever there is a news report of possible bad weather, all of my family in Nigeria, UK, and including America start calling and talking as if the storm, hurricane or blizzard is only targeted to do damage to me. You gotta LOVE family because it is so comforting to know that someone cares.

So this time around that storm and hurricane that I had often disregarded and blown off in years past finally caught up to me. Her name is Sandy and she put a beating on me this week. I had the unfortunate experience of dealing with a flooded basement that had over 3 inches of water once the power went out from the strong winds. Here is a quick tip; the next time the power goes out, make it a point to stay alert and inspect your home until you have full assurances of no potential damage happening to your home. Do not pull the African move like me and go straight to bed with the idea of sleeping it off and waking up the next day as if nothing happened.                                                              

The truth is as much as we think we can control things and manage disasters from happening, there is nothing you can really do when it is your time to suffer the ills of mother nature. As I approached my basement Monday night and I witnessed moving objects on the floor floating like fishes in the pond all I could do was hope and pray for the best outcome from that moment forward. Lucky me, I was out of power so I had no account and knowledge nor could I witness what my fellow countrymen/women were going through up and down the east coast. What did pull me through was the love and support from my family and friends that remained in contact with me throughout which helped me stay focused on the task at hand and gave the reassurance that things are going to work out just fine. You see be it my wife, siblings, parents, extended family and friends I had a whole bunch of Kevin Garnett’s with me that I knew were helping me in battle as I was doing work in my fox hole.

All my peoples is RIDERS