kenneth harrow
professor emeritus
dept of english
michigan state university
517 803-8839
harrow@msu.edu
Sent: Monday, October 25, 2021 10:52 AM
To: usaafricadialogue <USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Today's Quote
Supery writing from Cornelius.
Fit to be anthologized.
Perhaps in The Best of Social Media published by Compcros.
Thanks
Toyin
On Mon, Oct 25, 2021, 07:08 Cornelius Hamelberg <corneliushamelberg@gmail.com> wrote:
Chidi,
Exactly as you say: " The onus of proof lies solely on the one making the allegations"
Absolutely! He who feels it knows.
I ran into the same unfortunate situation on the 20th of October this year at our local ICA Supermarket at Enskede, where I live. I had bought some groceries at Willys at Fridhemsplan half an hour earlier ( tomatoes, paprika, ecological cucumbers) and some toast bread at COOP, and now a single item at ICA, a jar of pasta sauce, a tomato and garlic mix, stood patiently in the queue, and when it was my turn, the blond, blue-eyed urchin serving as a cashier at the checkout demanded that he wanted to see what was in my shopping basket.
Did you purchase these other things here?, he gaped at me
No, I told him
Do you have a receipt?
Yes, it's in the basket.
He takes a look and comes up with a receipt from the library - in a triumphant gotcha mode he then
exclaims for everybody in the Supermarket to wake up and take notice:
But this is a receipt from the library!
Just rummage a little further in the basket, I instruct him.
Reluctantly, he comes up with the receipt from Willys.
Can you prove that these tomatoes in your basket are from Willys and not from us ? asks the slow-brain, low-intelligence, cheeky blond & blue-eyed bugger.
IDIOT! - I reply in full battle Naija mode
NO! You can't tell him that - cackled a young lady further down in the queue behind me in protest-support of the urchin.
DOUBLE IDIOT! ( I'm now referring to both of them) I must prove to you ( s.o.b.) that I didn't steal some of your miserable ICA tomatoes? The proof is in your hands, the receipt from Willys! You could if you want please call the police!
( Does he think that I have no respect for the eighth commandment: Do Not Steal -
and to date, I have never stolen anything or kidnapped anybody. But how is he supposed to know that? As far as the urchin is concerned, I probably look like a criminal who goes around stealing some miserable-looking tomatoes from ICA. I felt constrained to show him my bank balance which at that moment stood at Swkr. 121, 000, enough to buy a pyramid of tomatoes currently rotting in Gaza without a harbour from which the poor Palestinians can export their tomatoes. I mention this because I remember empathizing with the former Mayor of Gaza, Rashad al-Shawwa when I saw real tears rolling down his cheek as he addressed us at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs in 1986, as he pleaded with the then Swedish Government to please help them build a harbour for them so that they could export their tomatoes. And also to help with building playgrounds for the Gaza kids. That was of course long before Ariel Sharon unilaterally vacated Gaza, lock, stock and barrel between August and September 2005
Last night I asked Samuel my spiritual guide and adviser about the inadvisability of my losing my cool and saying " idiot" to that miscreant with reference to Matthew 5: 22 ( Revised Standard Version) which says ( Jesus, speaking) :
" But I say to you, that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment: whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, " You fool" shall be liable to the hell fire"
According to Samuel, the caveat is "everyone who is angry with his brother WITHOUT CAUSE ….
--On Saturday, 23 October 2021 at 09:39:47 UTC+2 chidi...@gmail.com wrote:
What Nigeria's Minister of Justice said recently about Kanu and Adeyemo (Igboho) are allegations and since the onus of proof lies solely on the one making the allegations, we should wait for the Minister to supply proofs of his allegations.
-Chidi Anthony Opara (CAO).
--
Chidi Anthony Opara is a Poet and Founder/Publisher of; PublicInformationProjects (www.publicinformationprojects.org)
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/60f30083-5725-43de-8c63-9cd9773274c4n%40googlegroups.com.
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAGBtzfOsSa5bJ04vm-He1smcCw%3Dfsjh2tMeOVMG7wvffTokVSA%40mail.gmail.com.
