birds of the same kenya flock together

Last Friday, i saw a cop in a sunda (trouser worn around the tummy instead of the waist) at the museum hill round about. it brought back very nostalgic memories. back in the day when i was in forth form in high school, we went on strike in our second term to demand that the school introduces long trousers instead of the shorts also known at the time as paper bags. many great men had passed through this school and they all had used those paper bags but what drove our quest that time was the fact that most schools around us had introduced the new trouser based uniform, even those schools we considered 'below' us. in short we wanted to fit in! when the new uniform was eventually adopted, most of my classmates came in the high waist trouser called sunda popularized at that time by kanda bongo man and arlus mabele ; great zairean musicians at the time. However my mum went and bought for me a 'decent' Raymonds' long trouser fitted at the waist. even though i didn't want to hurt my loving mum , I always felt out of place.

It was all about the Kenyan desire to be uniform. to do what other Kenyans are doing. sort of crowd mentality. thats why when people are 'investing' in pyramids, all Kenyans do it. when people are getting saved, ditto. thats also why if you open a kiosk on street X today, you will wake up tomorrow and find 100 more lined next you selling the same things as you. I even saw it when it was time for every Kenyan worth his salt to buy a silver Mitsubishi saloon car. they were so many you would have thought they were being given free. even when it was the vogue to sport shiny alloy rims, or watch full seasons of pirated 24 and Prison Break series. i always wonder what happens that the killer fad just dies out on its own like that. like when all nairobi women would put on trousers that exposed their thongs. I wonder whether it was the pressure to prove that they were compliant with the thong fad or the low waist trouser fad.

And if I thought that the crowd thing was only with individuals. i was dead wrong, i was at gaucho restaurant in westi the other day and i discovered that they are very much trying to ape carnivore's meat experience. its really a failed imitation. carnivore is ahead with their unique service. you can see the meat being roasted on swords before carvers walk around with pride serving you till you drop the little white flag. well at gaucho, the meat is roasted elsewhere and you have a little card on the table which you flip to the green side to signal you want meat and red to stop the servers. i saw the same kind of thing at panari sky center but when it comes to 'meating' carnivore still does it for me.

However its not only 'meating' that is being copied, bankelele reports on KCB having already 'xeroxed' equity bank's pay day loan product. just the way barclays aped their roll out in remote and the hitherto 'risky' areas such as jua kali joints, universities and so on. it only tells us that even corporates are truly Kenyan not only young schools boys!