LET'S DRIVE

LET'S DRIVE
I wanted to get my driver's license renewed so made my way towards the only place where that could be done...the Drivers' Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA). Since I was not sure who exactly to go to, I entered one of the offices upon my arrival, contemplating whether to make an enquiry from one of the employees. I stopped short however when I realised the atmosphere I had walked into...One of tempers flying. Some men in apparent irritation, were yelling at the attendants for their poor service, slowness and seeming partiality. Now I was definitely reluctant to walk up to any of the attendants before the men added me to their targets of fury.
I observed, waiting to see how the employees will respond. To my dismay, they responded with equally loud voices and rude tones, unconsciously passing up the opportunity for peace to prevail..It was almost as if they were rather doing the men a favour by rendering service to them.
I hurriedly made enquiries and left the room to start the renewal process. When I got out, the loud blaring of a car horn 'welcomed' me, no doubt an impatient driver who wanted a pedestrian to get out of the way. Again, a harsh response followed..Instead of the pedestrian getting out of the way quietly, he had to have his share of the anger pie before giving way to the already irate driver.

This whole atmosphere brought a question to mind: "Why are Ghanaians so angry these days? "

"A gentle answer quietens anger, but a harsh one stirs it up.." - Proverbs 15:1
Perhaps if the employees had responded softly or kindly to the angry men, the men would not have continued in their tirade. Even if they did continue, the atmosphere would not have been half as tense or unattractive.
Or let us consider the driver and pedestrian..If the pedestrian had quietly gotten out of the way, would the driver have had cause to get even more irritated? Or maybe if the driver had been patient in tooting his horn, the pedestrian would not have seen the need to be rude in the first place.

But is politeness circumstantial? Do we really have to choose who to be polite to and when to be polite? Everyone deserves respect...or at least to be spoken to nicely. Should everyone make a conscious effort to be nice (not fake or hypocritical if I might add) Ghana would be much easier to live in considering the tough conditions we mostly face now. Surely, if no one is looking down on anyone, no one will feel threatened to make a point.

Before I go on though, Ghana is not growing any younger..We need better systems in place place. After I finished the renewal process, I was told the renewal stickers were finished so I should have a piece of paper instead as proof of my renewal and report a few weeks later. I was a bit shocked..Shortage of stickers??

Anyway, I would like us to view Ghana as a vehicle. The most basic parts of a vehicle are at least the tyres, engine, brakes, gears, head and tail lights, windscreen, just to mention a few. What if one or two of the car parts refuse to function? The car will no doubt be in poor shape. So it is with Ghana. If we refuse to do our best or what is required of us, Ghana will eventually grind to a halt.

Of course, no car can move without a driver. At the moment, Ghana's driver is our government. I have come to learn that putting aside partisan views is the oil Ghana's engine needs in order to keep functioning. Instead of murmuring against our leaders, the least we could do is to pray for them, irrespective of the party we belong to. Little by little we will get to our desired destination even though we do need a whole lot of acceleration.

I decided to board the Ghana bus a while back. Care to join?