Fried Fish

Sometimes people make the weirdest assumptions. They engage in stereotyping that may not end up too well for them. Like the woman who came to visit my mother at our home in Mogadishu. I was thirteen then, and at that time I was sitting under the shade of a tree in our yard. I was half reading Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and half daydreaming.

On her way out, our visitor turned around and said to my mother, “I need to buy some fish. Can you send your son with me to the fish market?” I never before set foot in the fish market and did not have the slightest clue on how to buy fish. Since we were originally from Brava, it was assumed that all Bravanese, including toddlers, were experts when it came to fish. Without waiting for my mother’s response, I laid down my book and followed her to her car.

That may sound strange, but not for Somalis. We never let on that we don’t know. Not knowing is a sign of weakness. We don’t have proverbs or other wise sayings extolling the virtues of not saying I don’t know. We don’t have Mark Twains telling us, “To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.” It was in the air and you just picked it up.

I remembered a saying by Albert Einstein, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” With the way I used to daydream in those days, imagination was something I had plenty of. And I used it at that fish market.

I can report that we never saw that lady again. If she was alive and did not choke on the bones of the fish that I picked for her, then she was probably very upset with me. I still believe that it was 100% her fault. She should have done her homework and known that I didn’t know.

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