
Fortune News | Oct 31,2020
Nov 7 , 2020
By Kidist Yidnekachew ( Kidist Yidnekachew has degrees in psychology and journalism and communications. She can be reached at kidyyidnekachew@gmail.com. )
As I was walking home on a sunny afternoon recently, I decided to make my journey worthwhile by taking bites from the wrapped food I was carrying. I was starving and could not wait until I got home.
Soon, I realised that all eyes were on me. Then the looks turned into comments.
“Glutton,” was one insult thrown at me.
I rolled my eyes at the guy who called me that and gave him a look that warned him to mind his own business.
“Aren’t you going to invite me to eat,” said another a little while later. “Geez,” someone else added.
Things were only going to get more bizarre. As I turned a corner, I saw a guy urinating by the street. No one paid attention to him. Then he looked at my food as I was wiping my hands and had the audacity to tell me off.
“You glutton! How could you eat on the road?” He had not even finished doing his business.
All I can muster in the heat of the moment was a dumbfounded look that asked: “Are you serious right now?”
We had a back and forth, and it went well after he was done with his business. I mentioned that there is much being done in the city to make it clean and pleasing to look at, and what he was doing was antithesis to this.
“You're right, but there's no bathroom around here. I couldn’t hold my pee any longer,” he said. “Besides, I am not the only one who urinates here.”
To a certain extent, I could understand where he was coming from. Public bathrooms are rarely available. It is common to find those that are either locked, out of service or do not have water. Some work has been done to improve this reality in places like Sidist Kiloor Arat Kiloby upgrading vacant public spaces to open coffee houses for people to sit down, have coffee and, if necessary, use the toilet. But, as this guy was witness, more needs to be done.
No less complicating is that some cafes lack proper toilets or do not allow passersby to use their facilities. It is clear that the challenge exists when it is not uncommon to see older women publicly urinating. At least, the women are conscious of what they are doing though and mostly choose secluded spaces. Men seem to take a certain pride in such an unsightly public act.
The conversation with the public urinator did not end with his public transgression.
“Why do you eat on the road?” he said. “It isn’t good. You will get an ‘evil eye.’”
I made it clear that I doubt any such superstitions are real. But he insisted on pinpointing what was wrong with my public eating.
“Also, in our culture, you don’t even get up to greet someone no matter how important that person is if you’re eating,” he said. “That shows the value we give to food.”
It is hard to justify his last point, but I could not deny that it is healthier and more satisfying to eat seated. Another downside is waste. Discarded banana peels are prominent features of our streets as are tissue papers people use to wipe their hands. But, on the whole, if one is eating and cleaning up carefully, there is no harm in public eating.
No doubt, these are not why eating in public is frowned upon. It is simply not culturally acceptable because of the rituals attached to eating. More relevant to my experience is also probably that women eating out in public – so far from the kitchen – exhibit certain confidence and autonomy. A man eating on the streets does not inspire nearly as much push back.
This was not the first time I got called out for public eating. But this was the first time I struck up a conversation with one of the men who called me names. He finally admitted that he could have been tactful and even mentioned that he has been setting a bad example for his daughter.
It was a small but sweet victory.
PUBLISHED ON
Nov 07,2020 [ VOL
21 , NO
1071]
Fortune News | Oct 31,2020
Featured | Sep 06,2020
Radar | Nov 30,2019
Life Matters | Oct 16,2020
Fortune News | Sep 14,2019
Fortune News | Jun 25,2022
Fortune News | Oct 30,2021
Fortune News | May 23,2020
Sunday with Eden | Sep 04,2021
Editorial | Mar 30,2019
Photo Gallery | 67213 Views | May 06,2019
Photo Gallery | 58993 Views | Apr 26,2019
Fortune News | 51828 Views | Jul 18,2020
Fortune News | 51484 Views | Sep 01,2021
Editorial | Mar 18,2023
Dec 24 , 2022
Biniam Mikru heads the department of cabinet affairs under Mayor Adanech Abiebie. But...
Jul 2 , 2022 . By RUTH TAYE
On a rainy afternoon last week, a coffee processing facility in the capital's Akaki-Qality District was abuzz with activ...
Nov 27 , 2021
Against my will, I have witnessed the most terrible defeat of reason and the most sa...
Nov 13 , 2021
Plans and reality do not always gel. They rarely do in a fast-moving world. Every act...
Mar 18 , 2023
Ethiopia's economy once hailed as a paragon of growth and development, now faces a co...
Mar 11 , 2023
Ethiopia is rapidly emerging as one of China's top African debtors, second only to An...
Mar 4 , 2023
Once again, Ethiopia has claimed international attention in the past few weeks for re...
Feb 25 , 2023
Millions of people in Ethiopia have continued to be deprived of access to information...
Mar 18 , 2023
Residents in the capital are all too familiar with the rationing of running water supply as the 0.48 million cubic meters of water pumped ou...
Mar 18 , 2023 . By MUNIR SHEMSU
Consumers in the Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State feel the pinch of a high cost of living, exacerbated by...
A Korean-based consultancy firm, DONG IL Engineering Consultants bagged the contract to conduct a detaile...
Mar 18 , 2023 . By AKSAH ITALO
Authorities raise the minimum price threshold for horticultural products on vegetables and fruits exporte...