KINDNESS OVER BITTERNESS



I saw the lady trying to speak unto the microphone, unsuccessfully. 

Her palms were sweaty and her lower lip was trembling, somehow her mouth started to move, words began to form, the only thing I could make out from what she said was, “I'm sorry, I'm sorry”, before she dropped the microphone with a loud thump that made it echo around the whole room. 

“ Lola.. Lola!”, a voice called after her as she ran backstage. 

I was simply a member of the audience and if the people around me were anything to go by, then this is quite an elite gathering. 

Oh did I say I was a member of the audience? Sorry, an exaggeration, I was a server. Having delivered a round of cocktails to the audience, I stood at the back to listen to what they had to say.

What did you say?

 Of course I was behind the curtains, do I want to get fired? 😅

I spotted Lola taking a seat outside the pavement when I went back round to the servers’ stand, she didn't notice me, I was just a server, but I said hello to her. She looked up at me and smiled, I was tempted to talk to her, so I did. 

“Ma'am, are you okay? Is there anything I can get for you to calm you? “

She was torn between being irritated by a server standing so close or to be vulnerable and let out the tears I could clearly see were clinging to her lower eyelids. 

They ran quickly down her cheeks and she could not hold back.. 

“I really wanted to do something this time, they.. All of them always told my mother she was good for nothing because she wasn't one of them, and I said I was going to show them. I was going to speak up and..give the speech today.. “

She sobbed… 

“Do they know you, as her daughter”

“No, it was supposed to be part of my speech, but the moment I climbed up there, looking at them, I felt so angry, that this group of pretentious pride-driven opportunists, drove my mother insane for not having any education, cast her out for not being book smart”

“Shhhh”, I tried to comfort her. 

She snatched her hand away from mine and stood up. 

“I forgot everything. I was filled with anger, I wanted to just scream and curse them all.. But I knew deep down that mama would not want that, she was.. She was gentle and forgiving.. And I hate it”

“Lola, may I say something?”

She looked at me expectantly. 

“Maybe you should lean into the forgivenessforgiveness. Anger and rage will only blind you and make you lose the essence for which you really want to do this. If you do it angry, you do it for you, but if you do it kind and graceful, you do it for your mother… she would be honored to live through you, now what version of you do you think she would want to live through? “

I tapped her shoulder and walked away. 

Few weeks later, I heard some applause in the Hall and took a peek, I was assigned to a different Hall but I always wanna k know anything, 

I saw Lola on stage, beaming in smiles as the people give her a standing ovation. 

She spotted me at the back and mouthed a THANK YOU, I smiled and returned to my station. 

The world is a better place when we are kind, an eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind, and sometimes the people you are so angry with, don't even have any idea that you are. 

Hope you learned something.. 

Konibaje baby ❤

 

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