Bitter Leaf Soup Series: Roasting (Aftermath of a splintered ego)

Photo Credit: YouTube.com

Good evening everyone, So sorry I didn't post the continuation of the 'Roasting series' yesterday. Sunday was kinda eventful for me so I was too busy to finish up the article.

So back to the series.

Roasting: The Aftermath of a splintered ego

Few things can make a grown man cry those man-tears, stare at the skies, shake his head and sigh 'See my life.' Roasting is one of them.

Fast forward two and a half years later after my first 'roasting' experience I had the opportunity to work at (in my opinion) a very prestigious college in the country.

I loved the suitable environment for learning, the facilities and techniques used to educate the children, but most of all what I loved was the drive for excellence among the students instilled their academics and competitions instilled by the visioneer and chairman of the group of schools, leading to whooping amount of 54 awards from competitions (Mathematics, English, Science and ICT) in 2016/2017 academic session alone.

Sometimes after working hours, I will pass by the spelling bee class and because of my love for the English language, I will just hover around the class and sometimes take a seat in the class, watching the students dish out spellings to impossible English words. Soon later, trusting my person, sometimes the Spelling Bee Tutors would allow me handle the class.

I particularly took interest in three of the spelling bees. They were the top-notch, they were the ones the school would enter as first choice in any spelling bee competition. A girl and two boys. The girl who was already 1st runner up in a top spelling bee competition in the nation, was going for the crown this time (which she did)

Being a teenager counselor and a devotee to the study of temperaments, I loved to watch the children in their natural elements, so I let them express themselves in ways they would not have done while they were with their 'original' tutors. I would only be serious when it was time to do drills. However I sensed that despite the friendliness, there was this unspoken friction among the three friends.


And I turned out to be right...

The children individually would stop sometimes by the library where I loved to stay for casual conversations. Into the discourse, I will ask about the other duo, they would give an initial hiss or a snicker then proceed to say "They are fine". A little probing here and there and they start pouring out all the pent-up bitterness towards the others. I thought of what to do and I remembered how roasting changed me and made me deal with something similar I had against Pheno.
(to read about that story click here)

Photo Credit: etfovoice.ca

Oh I did not mention this the last time I that after the roasting, I cried in the night and went out to sleep in another room. And over the night, I thought things through and saw the good Pheno had been doing all the while. He had been nagging about flaws that people didn't bother to correct me about. So in my closed mind, the others loved me while Pheno was the enemy. Not until that night when the can of worms was opened. When morning came, I went back to the room to apologize to everyone and I and Pheno had a very long talk, a very long one and it made our bond stronger. He is still one of my very good friends till today

Okay back to the children...

I proposed that the three of them should see me after their spelling bee class one evening and they all agreed.

The day came and they eagerly assembled before me and I brought up the concept of roasting. They had not heard of it before so I took the time to explain it to them and briefly told them of my first roasting experience how I shed a tear. It was I got to that part I got worried as I quickly thought, "If I then as a university student could cry, how much more grade 8 students" I decided they weren't up for it but that made them want to do it the more. I warned that I would not be held responsible if any of them start crying. I was most concerned for the girl as she was 'the weaker' vessel. But they insisted they were up for it. Well, I was there to moderate and if I sensed that things were going haywire, I would pull the plug

So they started roasting each other, the Architect, the Lawyer and the King. They poured it all out - hurt that had been festering caused by their individual flaws that they had individually thought wasn't a big deal. The lawyer on impulse would want to argue like I did during my first roasting but we all hushed him up. And he received it joyfully, smiling awkwardly and swallowing spit. Shortly before it was the Architect's turn to be roasted. I saw her eyes water and when the boys were ready to roast her, she excused herself and ran out of the library.

This is getting too long, I'm quite tired of typing.

To be continued next week. I'm so sorry if I hurt your feelings. Don't be so mad. Smile. Have a great week.

Value you.