Tope was almost done with her chores when she asked if she could take the coconut. She found it in the pantry while cleaning. I responded in the affirmative but asked that she go break it outside the house to avoid damaging the tiles.
Only a few seconds after she had agreed to my instruction, I found her trying to use a bread knife to crack it open. I was going to give her a lecture on why that was not such a great idea, when the knife snapped in two. I was livid for I had interpreted her behaviour as boldly arrogant and inappropriate. Needless to say that the knife would not have broken had she applied herself to what I had proposed, she still had to resort to breaking the coconut outside just as I had earlier told her to. Presumptions!
Although a few Sundays had gone by, it was not unusual to find people still wishing one another a happy new year in February. Being a densely populated church, with several times of service, you would rarely bump into anyone you’d know; at other times, you would find yourself waiting behind to catch up with a few friends. It was a warm feeling when we found out that some close friends of ours were in church that particular Sunday.
We exchanged pleasantries and chatted for a bit. It was a time of glee; moments of laughter and gratitude. We expressed appreciation for our current realities and all of what God had seen us through. As we said our goodbyes, we thought it’d be a great idea to take some pictures together as one big family. It’ll be awesome to capture that moment; you agree that pictures speak a thousand words and provoke feelings of nostalgia when you have reason to look at them later. We posed as best as we could. Lol.
Tope seemed to be having a hard time taking a good picture so we asked someone standing close by to kindly help us with the shots. We could not help noticing his enthusiasm and subtle pride as he held the phone to take a picture of us. He wore a smug on his face like he would a piece of clothing. His overall body language almost made me blurt out with laughter but thankfully, I didn’t. We all knew when he pressed on the shutter button because of how dramatic he went about it. For a second or two, I almost thought he was using a real camera and not a phone. It was such a spectacle. And then he gave us the phone when he was done helping us. We expressed our gratitude for his help. A look at the picture he took and it was worse than the ones Tope had taken hitherto – the results of “innocent presumption or utter cockiness”!
These two scenarios quickly reminded me about the very many times that I had acted in similar ways. Do I presume competence only when it comes to my own capabilities while I assume that others are probably incapable of such competencies? Do I dwell in a make-belief bubble where I insinuate that everyone but me lacks some supposed skill or ability? While it is important to have a sense of self-worth and faith in ourselves, we must be careful not to give in to making bold assertions or actions that invariably make us appear unwise.
So when next you are tempted, remember that being presumptuous often strips us from being objective. Having audacity without humility is actually presumptuousness.
Photo Credit: Google Images
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