Not The Independence Monday

My PC clock says 9:09 as I type this. For you, it can be anytime depending on when you are reading this. But for me, it is in the morning. In fact, I intend that you read this in the morning because Mondays suck. Don’t they? This particular Monday sucks the most, for Ugandans at least. Yesterday was our Independence Day anniversary. We celebrated 60 years of our independent existence as a nation that we proudly call The Pearl of Africa. God bless the soul of that Englishman, Sir Winston Churchill. What would we be boasting about now?! Of course, we have a very rich flora and fauna, but that is not the first thing people will think about when they hear or read about the country, Uganda.

Our Nyanja Nalubaale (now Lake Victoria), the biggest lake in Africa and the second biggest lake in the world is also the source of the Omugga Kiira (now River Nile), the longest river in the world. But that doesn’t matter. People will either have not heard about it or have heard horrible things about Uganda. The Idi Amin reign of terror for instance. Now, thanks to Churchill, we always have what to say, forget whatever you heard or read about our beautiful country, we shall be glad to boast and refer to it as The Pearl of Africa!

There’s something beautiful about Uganda. Our national emblem. That bird, it is the most graceful I have ever seen and probably there is. It is dressed elegantly in bright feathers, which spell out the symbolic colours of our national flag: black, yellow and red.

That bird moves with an air of flamboyance like it knows it is the national bird of Uganda. Seeing one or a flock of them, you experience its majesty because those birds are flawless dancers and they will entertain you as soon as you stop by. Because it is a bird and it can fly, our national carrier, Uganda Airlines, has its slogan read: Fly the Crane to The Pearl of Africa.

But here’s the funny thing. Our male national football team is called the Uganda Cranes; they don’t play airball (or volleyball); they don’t fly certainly; yet, those birds don’t look like they can play football. Ballet, maybe, they are such wonderful dancers. If that wasn’t funny, try the Rugby Cranes. That is our male national rugby team. What an insult to the Crested Crane! Whereas that bird leaves around marshes and the muddy banks of rivers and lakes, it is not a dirty bird. It is not a rough bird. It is not a bully. It is not all muscled up and it certainly doesn’t enjoy scattering wildly with an oval-shaped ball to be dangerously tackled and fallen all over by sweaty big bodies. No wonder, crested cranes used to be everywhere. They would renew the lost hope in a day and make us smile again. Now, they are rare. They have complained in vain. They are disgruntled. How could we have football and rugby and the many other aggressive sports named after The Crested Crane?!

Netball is perhaps the only kind game to the bird. The game is played like it is a dance. It is graceful just like the bird. Our national netball team is the most successful national team and ranks in the top 5 in the world. Why? Because the team is called She Cranes and The Crested Crane is happy about it. It is the reason The Crested Crane still poses standing with one leg, at least on our national flag and on the coat of arms. Bravo She Cranes, bravo!

We all agree Monday sucks by now, right? Right. Monday is the most dreaded day. It comes after a weekend of high life, booze and shots. And shorts. Monday should be a half-working day, starting afternoon. Don’t get me wrong, we all look up to the new week, but Monday just comes so soon. Monday comes before we have come over the hangover. Mondays just so suck! And this Monday, good grief! Why did the Independence Day holiday fall on Sunday?! It was supposed to be today so we actually feel independent, at least from work and school. Moreover, we were celebrating 60 years. Our diamond jubilee! And we didn’t get to feel the beauty and rarity of diamonds! It was a normal Sunday and we went to church and the priests talked about our 6o years and how things are not so okay and we went back home to find all our favourite TV programmes interrupted by the official national ceremony at the Kololo Independence (Ceremonial) Grounds and we were later sent emails reminding us about work meetings and school assignments due today and at the end of the day, we were left wondering what it is we were celebrating because we are not the hell independent in any way.

So, yeah, I won’t be wishing you folks a Happy Independence Day. I could have done so had I written this yesterday, but today, no, not this Monday. ‘Cause this Monday sucks!

Now, here is something to get you past the Monday slack. This blog. How about that, huh? Think about a blog to make you laugh, think about something else that is not work-related or social stress, something that renews your work mood and gets you sending that email and finishing that presentation.

Here is what you have to do. One, like and follow this blog so every morning on Mondays, all you have to do is check your email for this blog’s notification. Two, Feel free to share an idea you would want me to talk about in the subsequent posts under this blog in the comments section. And three, be kind enough to share this with friends and family so we have many people to talk to about how our Mondays suck.

Nice week ahead!

PS: You are not reading this blog on Monday because even for the writer, that Monday, 10 October 2022, sucked and the post was never finished. I guess I will have to write these articles before because now I know that writing on Monday also sucks.