Raised by the streets

I'm currently smiling cause am remembering some events that occurred while i was growing up in my neighborhood,funny but wonderful memories,i grew up in a community that wasn't really urban yet not rural so there's alot of houses,alot of kids and generally a lot if people of different caliber, the soft and the hard ,the kind and the heartless,the loved and the hated and so many other characters.

Source

Growing up in such an environment required that you developed a super sense of instincts or your mates or even juniors will mess with you big time,so you must always be on your toes ready for whatever anyone brings to the table,you behave sluggish you get ripped,you get bullied so it was like a competition and only the fittest will survive,if you can't handle staying outdoors then remain indoors but the funny part is the day you step out the entire kids in the neighborhood will call you a coward, there's this word called 'AJEBO' , you'll be called an ajebo and definitely you'll get pissed off,you decide to stay outdoors and they're bullying you if you aren't fit enough,so in the end you must learn to stand your ground.The amazing part was parents never interfered in the affairs of their kids,infact you're messed with and when you tell your parents,the response will be 'Go handle them yourself '.

This mindset followed me out even after i left for school elsewhere,i know no one can mess around with me ,my instincts have been sharpened never to be cheated and all that,so I'm saying if there's anything the community has taught me then its how to survive any environment,i sincerely don't see anywhere I'll go to and then i can't cope, I'll cope in almost every environment apart from antartica of course.

Something else the community groomed in me was RESPECT, every child was taught respect, every child was taught to greet elders, there's this belief in the community then , they'll say 'One child in a community belongs to the entire community ' so if you dare mess up you'll be punished even before your parents know your crime and then funny how your parents won't even complain someone else disciplined you, they'd thank them for discipling you and then take you for round two if you aren't lucky enough.

There's so much love in my community,we share and deal with problems to the best we can, during occasional celebrations like Easter, new year andd Christmas especially ,alot of food goes around.I really appreciate the aroma of the community on a Christmas or new year eve,I love good food so of course my entire being would be jumping for joy because it's that season again where am seeing and having to eat different kinds of food from different people's kitchen,you get to know those moms that are good at cooking and those moms that are terrible at cooking.

I remember i once told someone i knew that how does he survive his house cause their mom is terrible at cooking.

Hope you did enjoy the story from my little experience,have a wonderful day.