Black & White

On my way back to the hostel, one time in 200 level in the university, I found a friend sitting right outside her hostel, alone and crying. I sat by her and tried to console her, even though I had no clue what she was sobbing for. When she eventually shared, it turned out that the other ladies in her room were making life really difficult for her.

"Huh?" I reacted in my head, and her story that night helped me realise that boys and girls live in two different worlds on this earth, because I have hardly heard of such from boys before. Makes me wonder less why some ladies often say they prefer to have guys as actual friends.

What I know is I'm not sure I'd ever fully understand women, but I sure know that for guys, its just black or white for us. "I don't like this thing," I either confront you as a fellow man or just not bother and let it go or probably resent you until I even forget. I'm not saying it's the same for every guy in the world, but for guys, it's usually a straight line.

One of my buddies got me angry one time. I mean, I kind of knew it wasn't intentional, but it got me mad anyway. I tend to withdraw and probably not say anything when my emotions seem unbalanced because I don't like trying to retract regretful actions. So I looked away in that moment. The next time we talked, I let him know.

I said, "Bro, when you did this thing, it vexed me a lot. I just wanted to let you know." Then I explained why. And that was it. Usually, at least for guys where I'm from, the response would be, "No vex, my guy." Case closed, we move on with our lives. As for ladies. I leave it to the supreme judge to settle their matter.

Two of my closest friends one time, for example, suddenly had a misunderstanding. One meant "A," but the other was thinking "B." Then, before I could say "Jack," they had a quarrel. Next thing, the other stormed out of the friend's room. I couldn't even understand what was happening, so I just sat in the corner of the room, only to speak when spoken at.

Long story short, these two kept their distance for months. You know where that put me? In the middle of the war, because I still remained their friends individually—just as tight, in fact. I almost never discussed their "situation" with any of them. They were adults, but it made me so uncomfortable most times. In my mind, this fight would have ended the moment it started if it had been between guys. Some guys don't even know their names but remain "gees".

It's really funny how we all manage to live together in this world with our differensces. As far as I am concerned, it is black and white.