You didn't know that now ..did you?

Ever wondered why you do some things?...Well I remember once when I was still a brat (7 year old me thinks). Back then we would like a ritual travel upcountry in Dec to see the grandfolks. This involved over 800km travelling from Mombasa where I lived at the time to good old Kendu Bay. One of the things I feared in "ocha" was the propensity of getting the odd thorn finding its way on the soles of my feet (I used to get the beat for discarding my shoes/slippers and walking barefoot every now and then...a brat I was!) So I got this ingenious idea to clear my routes off any thorns if i found any. As I was going on with my charitable activity, my grandfather (may his soul rest in eternal peace) caught up with me and severely scolded me. It is taboo I was told to clear the path of any thorns i was told. Several years on, i came to understand the reasoning behind this. When i was old enough to understand that i had to wear shoes/slippers at all times , my grandpa explained to me that removing thorns from the paths would make people less careful in watching where they are stepping. The thorns forced them to be vigilant and more careful. He had also explained to me the reason why my forefathers had their front teeth knocked off to reveal a gap. Well for those conversant with Luoland, snakes are quite the trailerload, and most of the venomous snakes would affect the nervous system and cause your teeth to clamp. The only way of administering the remedies and anti-venoms they had was to pour the medicine through the gap when the jaws were clenched shut.

So the next time you ridicule some of those taboos of yours without getting the thinking behind them, think twice. Your ancestors had a twisted sense of humour in their wisdom.