You are in a popular club in Nairobi with a couple of friends when your boyfriend’s best friend walks in. Behind him, a lady is following closely and they seem to be holding hands. In your head, you assume that it is the same girl he was with the previous week. “Monique!” You shout in excitement and immediately see the guy making gestures at you to stop. As they approach, you notice that he is with another girl – his sidechick. You introduce yourself without asking more questions and spend the rest of the night mocking her among one another for being the side chick. What you don’t know, at the time, is that one day it’s her, and the next, you become the new Monique. But before it happens to you, it’s all fun and games, right?
You have probably heard the satirical joke about the insurmountable infidelity and cheating that goes on in Nairobi. I must admit that at first, it was funny or at least worth a giggle. However, with time the joke has become stale.
It may be a coping mechanism, but Kenyans have slowly learnt to use laughter as a coping mechanism to deal with issues. We have turned everything into a joke, to a point where we have normalised and even praised a vice as big as cheating.
Different forms of media have played a huge role in perpetuating the problem. We listen to music or watch TV shows that outright praise cheating, and without even knowing it some of us cave into the peer pressure of it all. We have commercialized the world so much that the media only produces what sells. So, since one of the extremely popular topics is the ‘greatness’ of infidelity, people of influence have joined the bandwagon. After all, it’s all about the money, right? (Wrong)
Cheating and infidelity destroy trust, which, as we all know, is extremely hard to rebuild. You can lose your partner forever because of cheating. If that doesn’t scare you enough, then it can also lead to the spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and infections. The pain of cheating outweighs the gain – well to me at least. No one ever says from their deathbed, I wish I had an affair.
The loss is of trust is not easy to fix. The pain of being cheated on can be unbearable.
We need to grow up and address the problem, rather than masking it as though it’s a positive trait to go around proclaiming. If you are in a relationship for the convenience of it, why not leave, be single, and be free to do whatever you want to do? What is the point of being in a relationship if all you will do is disrespect the other person? If you don’t want to stick to one partner why not be open with your partner? 8 Pros And Cons Of Polyamorous Relationships
The next time you witness your friend, cousin, brother, or sister cheating on their partner, say something. Don’t enable their behaviour. Tell them that what they are doing is wrong. Because the more we accept it as the norm, the worse it becomes. Truth be told, it’s all just a big joke until it comes closer home. Then we start to realise that it was never funny.
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