Once, I saw a mad man watch another mad man with amazement. The observer’s hair was inter-locked, it was obvious no comb had touched it in years. He had a small piece of clothing on which apparently had become a rag. His mouth was ajar, like he had forgotten how to use the muscles in his mandible. They were both sitting on the floor with a space of about 10fts between them. The other madman could have been mistaken to be sane if not that he was sitting on the floor and sharing a private joke with himself for he was laughing uncontrollably. But really, the one in rags looked madder but there he was staring at another with surprise. I tried to identify the incongruity of this situation, why would mad man stare at another mad man with the look of surprise mixed with perhaps pity and disgust? At that point, I wish I could get into his head. What was he thinking? Did he realize they were both in the same condition and from the perspective of a passer-by, his situation was worse?
I have never been to a mental institution, for those that have or those who work there, this occurrence might not be strange to them. I was not just standing by the roadside like someone who had forgotten why she was somewhere, I was in a bus and was looking out through the window. Someone wanted to alight and there they were by the roadside! One staring, the other laughing and I in the bus, observing.
I got to my room and told my roommate about it, we laughed. But when I said I wish I could get into the mad man’s head to know what he was thinking, “Get into a madman’s head???” she shouted with her eyeballs almost popping out of their sockets. I started thinking of the possible thoughts that could occupy a mad man’s mind. For days, I pondered on this scene. I just couldn’t let go. I wanted to juxtapose it with life itself but making a meaning of it was a conundrum. Perhaps, I should not have given it a second thought, after all, it was not my business. About a week later, I was given the opportunity to speak in a gathering and I found myself talking about how a mad man was staring at another mad man with amazement, they laughed.
We all act like gods, small gods in our chrysalis, in our enclosed little world. It’s a world where almost everyone, through privilege, lies, deception or hypocrisy is better, cooler, richer, smarter…than you. We act like we have it all together and the other person is the one with issues, the one with a nasty attitude, the one who is difficult to live with, the one who is difficult to love. Remove the log from your eye so you can see clearly to remove the speck in your neighbor’s eyes. Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “The longer we live, the more we find out we are like other persons.”
In There Was a Country by Chinua Achebe, he says “Things we encounter in life that leave the greatest impressions on us are usually not clear.” It took me a couple of days to make a meaning of that scene. I know people will have different perspectives and interpretations, please, feel free to share what yours. Watching these two men has not left the greatest impression on me, but it did leave an impression on me because not even in my next life will I forget that day.
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Photo Credit: Nigeriaworld
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