Yesterday at the Media Meet with the President, there was a display of an attribute that disturbs me.
The moderator, the Information Minister, set the ground rules for the Q&A time: one question per person, make it snappy.
Not a few of those who had the opportunity to ask questions decided to ignore the instructions totally, asking two and sometimes three questions, even after a couple of warnings.
It is a character that irks me. We all think we can outsmart the system. It is either indiscipline or an inability to follow simple instructions.
It is that same trait that makes people climb the curb to avoid traffic and then create more traffic in the process.
It is that same trait that makes people want to jump queues in the bank.
It is that same attribute that makes people want to bribe to cut corners.
We want to grab as much as possible when we have the stage. We want to eat as much as we can when it is our turn, not caring about those behind us.
The above are the examples of indiscipline.
But there is more.
Perhaps we just don’t know how, or care, to follow instructions.
You put up a post and say people text a particular number and not call. They will call.
You say people should send details into your inbox. They put the details in the comments’ section.
You ask people to get in touch via a particular email (not your own) and they send the mail to your inbox.
Someone is to give a speech and you ask him to use 15 minutes, he ends up speaking for 45 minutes.
A student presenting his project is asked to wrap up in 2 minutes and he proceeds as if he has one more hour.
Yesterday’s session was revealing in these respects as well, aside the questions.
Indiscipline on display. Or plain deficiency.
Nsempiisms. My mouth has fallen.
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By: Nana Awere Damoah
