Good fathers vs bad fathers

Father’s Day was yesterday, the day on which good fathers are appreciated. Underline ‘good fathers’. We can deny it all we want; fact is there are a bunch of bad fathers out there, lots of them. We all know them; some are our own fathers, our grandfathers, uncles, brothers and even neighbours. You just know a bad father when you see them. Same applies to bad mothers.

Forgive me for saying this, but as a nation we are fast becoming notorious for celebrating poverty. Successes and personal achievements are frowned upon. It starts with the way we exchange greetings. When someone asks about your wellbeing, you are likely to tell them about your near death experience with piles, how empty your kitchen is, how drought has affected your livestock and crops and how your children are not performing well at school. It is always about the negatives, never about the positives and this has now become part of our culture. And strangely, people love this line of greeting.