Tips & Advice
Offensive Tendencies in Public
Tinotenda Chikohora
I
t has been a long busy day at work,
and you remember responding to
texts you have been ignoring at
work before you get home. But the guy
sitting next to you in a kombi keeps
dropping surreptitious peeps on your
phone and you are becoming nervous!
Nothing can be unpleasant as
that, but alas, numerous offensive
tendencies have gone unquestioned. Is
it ignorance, or the signs the of times
for society to start normalizing the
abnormal?
Gone are the days when people
spoke highly of manners. Now people
display distasteful behaviuors daily in
public and yet societal expectations
shape individual behaviuors.
Here, The Parade lists the
puzzling and the downright pig-ugly
tendencies that were suggested by
readers; peeping on someone’s phone
message(s) being among them.
Exposing the butt line
Didn’t people use to complain about
baring the umbilical cord? It has
gotten worse; it’s the butt crack now.
More often than not, people
have looked aside ashamed when
one’s pants expose the butt-line in
commuter omnibuses.
Though people do not caution you
about it, this tendency is common
among ladies using public transport.
So in the event that one is using
public transport, it is advisable not to
put on low-cuts (clothes with a lower
waistline) as this tendency is grossly
repulsive to fellow passengers.
Being ashamed of oneself is bad
enough; and shaming other people
over your behaviuor is unimaginable.
Urinating in public
Disgusting
odorous
streets
characterise most of our towns
because of this repulsive act which
has been left rampant.
What is more disturbing is that men
no longer mind passers-by. Long back,
people would camouflage in bushes,
but now they just huddle in a corner
or lean on a tree to urinate.
Many-a-times, drunkards even
urinate on beer halls walls or public
toilets doorsteps.
Most have been left to go
unpunished for long. What’s the point
of having public toilets if people can
urinate anywhere?
In other states, public urination has
been charged as indecent exposure,
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warranting a jail sentence and yet
it’s taken lightly here probably
because most folks were used to the
bush- system. (Check rural to urban
migration statistics)
Speaking vulgar in public
Do people still mind abusive
language in public? I guess not.
Commuter omnibus drivers and
conductors are leading the charge
to normalising abusive language in
public and the police seem not to mind
as well.
This can be very embarrassing,
especially in the company of
respectable elders!
Is freedom of speech/expression
a ticket to use profane and vulgar
language in public?
Removing shirts in public
Hot
summer
weather
is
characterised by sleeveless tops and
dresses, boob tubes, vests, among
other aerating attires.
Whilst men complain over halfnaked women roaming the streets in
the name of summer wear, men have
gone a step further by being totally
topless in public.
Whereas men jeer a woman treading
the streets in skimpy tops, half naked
men are left to do the same in a worse
state than women in the pretence of
feeling hot.
Walking around topless is one very
repulsive tendency which men have
been left to do for too long.
Research has shown that it is
offensive to other people around as
most of those half naked men won’t
even have their body shaved.
Smoking/drinking in public
A recent trend is developing
whereby people do not mind smoking
and drinking in public transport,
especially at night.
Despite widespread knowledge
of public smoking’s effects to other
people, the society has cast a blind eye
towards it.
In other countries, smoking in
public is a highly punishable offence
and public services are divided into
(outside) and non-smoking areas.
Also,
bottle-stores
and
pubs
continue selling alcohol to minors. A
prohibition without reinforcement is
a mere waste of time.
Being sensitive towards people around
us makes us good citizens and once an
action is regarded as a norm people
adopt it as acceptable behavior. TP
April 2013