Kenyan families are proof that God loves comedy. All it takes is two uncles in the same room, and youโve got a live vitimbi special โ no subscription required.
First up: The drunk uncle.He never arrives โ he enters, late of course, smelling like Pilsner and untold wisdom. He hugs you too tight, laughs like you just paid him, and randomly shouts, โHii familia imebarikiwa!โ like itโs breaking news.
Every story he tells starts with โBack in my dayโฆโ and somehow features a boda boda accident, a beautiful lady from Murangโa, and a fight he โalmostโ won.
But you love him. You have to. Heโs free entertainment. Heโll dance offbeat, misquote scripture, proudly announce heโs proud of everyone, then borrows Ksh 200 for โfare.โ
Then thereโs The HR uncle.This one treats family gatherings like LinkedIn boot camps. He shakes your hand like an interviewer, smiles like an appraisal, and before youโve even swallowed your first chapati heโs asking, โSo, what are you doing nowadays?โ
Say โIโm still figuring things out,โ and watch disappointment spread across his face like bad Wi-Fi signals.
Five minutes later, heโs asking for your CV โ not to help you, but because asking for CVs is his love language. Heโll promise to โforward it,โ and two Christmases later heโs still asking if you updated it.
Put the two in one room, and behold:
Drunk uncle: โHuyu boy ni wangu, ako na akili sana, mletee bia!โHR uncle: โWe need to discuss career direction. Whatโs your five-year plan?โYou: Sipping soda, planning an escape route.
Meanwhile, in the background, aunties exchange knowing glances over the sufuria lids, cousins huddle and giggle as if watching a live play, and a tired grandparent sighs loudly, praying someone changes the topic before the HR uncle starts a mini seminar.
Someoneโs always whispering, someoneโs always laughing, and someone โ usually the โsaved auntyโ โ is quietly trying to mediate before chaos become headlines.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Kenyan family sociology: love, chaos, alcohol, unsolicited advice, pressure, and laughter โ all mixed together like fruit punch.
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