A while ago, a woman made a public comment, “any lady/woman who cannot use the grinding stone to grind pepper is not a real woman and is not ready for marriage”. I laughed so loud and mockingly, not because I can use the grinding stone; I actually can not but because I had and still have no plans whatsoever to learn to use it and I could not shake off the ludicrousness of that statement. I just failed to see how the qualification for being a woman or being ready for marriage is the ability to use grinding stone in this 21st century when even the grinding machines and manual blenders have been rendered almost useless by the electrical blenders and similar appliances. I must not be a woman to the commenter.
My dad’s agreement with the statement was not surprising considering the nature of most of our arguments back at home. They both continue to place value on things whose value have long been lost, they fail to move with the changing times. Oh, I objected to the comment and I was very vocal about it, I mean, who as at 2018 cared about grinding stones? Exactly, no one!
A good number of us – just as I did – find the grinding stone story absurd but here’s the thing, the only difference between her and a lot of people is the object of backwardness. We live in a growing world where everything changes with the twinkling of an eye and the only constant thing is change. Therefore, the only way to do more than survive is grow with it, evolve and make positive changes accordingly. It is quite amusing that people in present times still live in the past, someone still living in the 90’s or in 2018 while it is year 2019, placing importance on things whose value and importance can only be appreciated in the past, we may as well continue on breast milk forever.
Any investment you make today that will not sustain you tomorrow is not an investment, it is a loss, just as starting up a business that will not be relevant tomorrow is foolhardy. Your competition may not always be a competitor, it may be an application, a service, a skill or what have you. The reason many people have issues expanding and progressing is because they keep looking back and never forward.
What happened to grinding stones? Far as I know, it is still capable of grinding pepper just as Mr Biggs still serves cooked food. What happened to Nokia 3310 or the kerosene lantern? Most likely the same thing that happened to other extinct brands – failure to grow and move with the tides. Technology and innovations are taking over our world, you have to be future perceptive and future focused to thrive, see a need and meet that need in whatever capacity you can.
Transportation in itself hasn’t always been an issue, we have enough buses, tricycles and motorcycles around, someone once said that the reason for the bad road traffic jam in Lagos state is as a result of too many vehicles plying the road. However, taxify, Uber, Opay and others came with improved service as we all can testify to, hence their relevance in such short period. How relevant will you and/or your brand be in the next 5 years?
Remember, yesterday’s news is stale news, stay connected and informed on global trends, move on from your grinding stone!
I can use grinding stone and I actually enjoy using it once in a blue moon…. But saying it’s a criteria for being a woman……
Its nothing but *okoto meow*
Thank you.