Glory Matthews'blog

I am so ashamed of myself. While, in Paris, many people are mourning their loved ones taken away by hate, I didn’t have the dignity to restrain myself from hating someone that parked his car in front of my house and was nowhere to be seen.

The person left enough space for me to drive in, but not without struggling and I was so mad at him or her, because of this small inconvenience, that out of anger, I just decided to throw the remaining coffee in my mug on his windshield!

This is not me at all, but the selfishness of Lagos drivers has gotten the best part of me. They will just stop anyhow in the middle of the road, not disturbed one bit, that behind them a queue of cars is forming, so that they can speak to a friend that was just passing by! And they will even shout at you, if you try to say something about it.

So, I let out all my frustration on this unknown motorist. And the worst part is, I did that in front of my daughter and one of my house help. What kind of message am I sending to them? That hate is the only answer?

I can’t believe I stoop so low, especially today, when violence has taken over Paris, today when everybody hates everybody. Whites, Blacks, Arabs, Christians, Muslims, Asians, we are all defined by the same hatred for each other, hatred for the one that is different from you.

Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou, I am thinking about you.

I don’t want to be part of this hatred.

I am so sorry.