Well, it’s said what goes around comes around. And it has been the same with me. After the regrettable (yes, the guilt caught up with me) act of stealing from a client, I was arrested for something completely different and spent some days in the cells. It was not the worst of things, but not good either. This year I am excessively upbeat, and not even the time in the cells has lowered my high spirits. I am not mad at the ‘system’ like I previously used to be each time I collided with the authorities. Yet I now doubt whether to really quit. But that’s a story for another day, and so is that of the mayor talking of legalisation. Happy Valentine, everyone.
I still do a monthly column for Up Magazine. And here is an excerpt from the February issue. Its a little bit overtaken by events. And of course it has passed through an editor’s hands, so its more clean.
Every 31st of December, I make a New Year resolution. For the last three years, my resolve has always been the same: to quit the street. Usually this is easier said than done. For a start, the timing is wrong; after trying to show off to family and friends quite a bit during the festivities, come January I am without a cent. Okay, I say to myself, Let me stick for a month so at least I can quit with some money in my pocket. True, by the end of January I will have made some money, but the marketers will have started running the Valentine advertisements, which are of the kosa uchekwe kind. Why then not stick for another two weeks only, be part of Valentine, and hopefully wait for the lovers and lonely hearts windfall? And that’s the point I rewrite my resolutions to focus on an extended stay on the street. This year has not been different, and in the second month of the year I find myself making streetwise resolutions:
Firstly, I decide to only focus on valuable customers. In this city, impressions can be deceiving. But the temptation to fall for initial impressions is always there, you know, that love for status. That urge to rush and grab the man driving a Range Rover Sport and show my back to the one driving a Spacio. I wish to fight this “blind Nairobi hunger” for prestige, but it’s a tough one. Still, in my third year in business, I have developed an extra sense that helps me to differentiate between good and bad customers. Good clients pay the right amount without much fuss. And good clients are not necessarily those driving the big, flashy cars. This year, I promise to instill in myself the discipline not to rush for status at the expense of a higher pay.
I also want to avoid what is not legally mine. Those in the know say that this city is small and fluid. If I hurt someone, the chances of us not bumping into each other are far from negligible. In my profession, my colleagues can easily smoke me out just to win the victim’s favour. And that’s the mess I always find myself in whenever I pinch something from a man. I become a fugitive with few hiding places. Always on the lookout for the man to come looking for some “instant justice,” police or friends by his side. When temptation rears its head this year, I will resist. I want to avoid catfights in 2012 On the Street, catfights are important for obtaining street credibility. However, when a girl is involved in many fights and loses half of them, then it’s not good for her or her business. During fights, girls are always trying to completely destroy each other, focusing their efforts on the opponent’s face. The results are scars, scratches and black eyes that make a girl lose confidence and, of course, clients. I would like to say that this year I won’t bribe the police or city council askari. However, this might be empty bravado on my part. After all, in my opinion, few residents of Nairobi can actualise such a resolution.
