The journey of life is full of crisis and uncertainties, In the mist of our chaotic existence we grow gradually and eventually become wary. One thing about life is, you can never run out of challenges and I don't mean this in a negative way it just what it is. As we grow while navigating our ways through the hurdles of life we become more aware of our existence. Finding our purpose seems like one of the only ways to attribute a meaning to life which is quite funny because we spend a life time chasing our purpose, this makes you wonder what life is all about.
There are thousands of books out there written by scholars who believed to have figured out what life is all about but the truth is it all comes down to which path an individual wishes to follow. We were not born with some sort of manual which would have made life a lot easier, I mean our roles and path in life will already be stated in it but in the absence of that we are left with our ability to decide what is right and best for us. Which can be tricky sometimes because life is not black and white, there is always something in between.
Humans primary objective behind every act either selfless or selfish it is always bound to the desire to survive. In most cases, the ability of every human to survive is based on the amount of knowledge and skill they possess and the ability of such person to apply the knowledge to appropriate and immediate situation at hand. All through the socialisation process, it is a race of survival but as humans grow and survive hurdles, so does our experience grow and this factor improves our knowledge and application of wisdom.
As an individual, whenever I find myself in a difficult situation especially times when I have no idea of how I'm going to overcome it, at that point that is when my survival instinct kicks in and I find myself doing things that I never thought was possible.
In relation to the prompt title, thinking about an irregular situation such as being kidnapped, anything that comes out of mouth will be all about manipulating the kidnappers to let me go. The funny thing about most Nigerian kidnappers is that they are mostly uneducated which can put me in a very difficult situation. I mean imagine speaking English to a kidnapper that does not understand English 😅.
I believe my first line of action will be to discover the language that is best understood by my kidnappers and if it happens that they don't understand any of the language I know of that means I will have to improvise and abandon interpersonal communication escape technique but if they do, that will just make my escape a lot easier. Thinking about it, what can a kidnapped person say that will force the kidnappers to dump the person 25 minutes after being kidnapped I mean if you keep talking they might decide to gag you, that is if they have not done that already but let just hope they haven't.
Looking and noticing the kidnappers closely, then I will start coughing very bad to the extent that it will grab their attention. The thing about most kidnappers is that they see their victims as a money bag, keeping the victim alive in order to get paid is always their top priority. In case they notice that the person they kidnapped is coughing that will prompt them to check was is going on. When I realise I have finally gotten their attention, I will start shivering a little and getting all sweaty. With that my body temperature will definitely increase beyond the ordinary, trying to figure out what is wrong, the kidnappers will definitely try to know if I have anything say about what is wrong with me.
That is when I will drop the unexpected bomb by saying, I have COVID 😅. This will definitely be the reaction on their face 😳😳. There was something that was far dangerous that erupted during the COVID 19 pandemic, it was called INFODEMIC this term relates to the false information that was being disseminated about COVID 19 which resulted to civil unrest among the populace of Nigeria. There was something I noticed during the COVID 19 pandemic, even the most uneducated Nigerians were wearing nose mask, Which proves how terrified we were of the virus.
Knowing how contagious the virus is and seeing some of the symptoms in me, immediately their minds will definitely start playing tricks on them, they start imagining the possibility of it being true. I mean they could also believe I'm lying but knowing how terrified most people were of COVID 19, they wouldn't want to risk having contact with someone that has the virus. I wouldn't need to talk about it for 10 minutes before they throw me out of their vehicle. 😂
How do I know so much about this.
I'm a Nigerian which means I know how my people think, No kidnapper would want to lose their life to a virus and the fear of death can make people do things you never thought was possible. I mean if their main objective is to collect ransom and they discover that there is a possibility they might not live enough to receive the ransom, I'm sure they would think about their next action very carefully before making a decision, after all their lives depends on it.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled "When you can't stop talking" in hive learners community.
Cover image - 𝖣𝖾𝗌𝗂𝗀𝗇𝖾𝖽 𝗎𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗏𝖺
Image 1 - Photo by Zachary DeBottis
Image 2 - Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya
