Sometimes, I feel like I don't fully acknowledge how much power social media, TV shows, and just television in general have in the life of an average man. Because as much as we wouldn't love to admit it, there have been a lot of our actions that have clearly been influenced by something we saw or read on the internet/television in the past.
Just a couple of hours ago, my neighbor, who just got back from work, couldn't wait to get something off his chest, so he immediately walked up to me to talk.
photo by Tope. A Asokere
It turned out there was this clip of a movie scene that we both had watched a few days ago. It was a clip from a Nigerian traditional movie scene, a Yoruba movie. Usually, movies like this always have a spiritual or diabolical storyline where you see witches flying and witchcraft working at its full capacity.
Anyway, in this clip that we both had watched, this elderly woman could be seen standing by the side of the road with heavy luggage beside her, and anyone that walked past, she would plead with them to help her put the luggage on her head, which they did. But every time they put the luggage on her head, the movie shows us that spiritually, the luggage had transferred to the head of those people helping her carry it, and they walk away not knowing that there's some spiritual luggage on their head.
In that movie, the luggage signifies something bad, and anyone who helps the elderly lady to carry the luggage dies after a couple of days.
We had both watched this clip a couple of days ago and didn't think much about it until earlier this morning when this neighbor of mine was on his way to work. He said as he was walking down to the bus stop in a busy market area, this lady who was carrying a child had stopped him and pleaded with him to help her carry her bag on her head, because she obviously couldn't bend down to pick up the load because she had her child in her hand.
But, due to the clip he saw those few days ago, he had ignored the lady and immediately walked away, and according to him, he had been feeling bad all day about not helping the lady, unable to get the thought off his mind.
The story made me laugh, but he had also asked me what I would have done if I was in his position, and I feel ashamed to say this, but I really can't say for certain if I would have stopped to help her too.
And that's really sad.