It is said that growing up is mandatory, but maturing is optional.
It seems like yesterday when you were a toddler, with the notion of sex and bills so far away in your mind.
In fact, when you were young, you always assumed that you’d have grown up thoughts.
Instead, what you decided upon like a famous comic writer once said, is to look forward to continued immaturity followed by death.
Maturity, or getting old is an idea imposed on us by society.
At a certain age, some things may start getting mentioned in your presence, overtly or subtly depending on the amount of beer the bearer of news has had.
But then, in our own worlds, we get to realise that you are actually old. These signs include:
1. All the girls in your age group are married or with children
They say girls mature faster. Either that or it is the fact that men prefer marrying girls five or more years younger than them.
That being said, nothing makes you feel old when all the girls you went to school with are all married.
And not those village girls you went to primary school with, the campus girls.
2.When you find yourself saying "Watoto wa siku hizi..."
If you realise you have started saying this common Swahili phrase while making certain statements, then it means that you are way too old, like a generation older than the children you are referring to.
Generally speaking, children of today are growing up in a different realm altogether; with mobile gadgets, and relaxed parental discipline.
3.When you think of bills every end of the month
There’s nothing you detest more than the ticking of that meter.
It reminds you that at the end of the month if you don’t get things right, you may end up having to play cat and mouse games with your landlord, or stay in darkness.
Bills are just part of the perils of getting old, and how you looked forward to it!
4.Develop a liking for rhumba music
Rhumba music has often been associated with old people.
Even though you don’t understand a single lyric, you do think that it’s part of being a responsible adult.
Suddenly you frequent joints that play rhumba or play it loudly to signal the world that there’s an adult who pays bills inside.
5. Marriage gets tossed into your hat all the time
At family gatherings, eyes point at you and sometimes, they mention the fact that you need to get married soon, if not quickly.
You need to settle down, they say, even when the concept of marriage is something you can’t wrap your thoughts around.
#hivisasaoriginal