Whose “Frankly Speaking”? (III)
By Franklin Sone Bayen
Now that I know I’m not the only Frank in the world thinking I speak frankly, I’ve come to a few conclusions:
1.) Most of us called Frank think we are frank people. I do. My friend and GHS Limbe classmate, Okole Winston "Kool", now somewhere in the U.S., always reminds me I was fond of saying: "I'm as frank as my name." Looks like we Franks around the world form a tribe of self-professed frank speakers.
2.) The World Wide Web (www) that brings out – more than anything else I think – the notion of the global village, has only established its network of our dispersed “tribe” – the Franks tribe. But it has also taught me that God's creations are made in like manner. No one is an island. No one is unique. Along certain lines, sometimes based on what we think of ourselves (like Frank is frank), we – or many of us – think alike. It may be that most of us called Frank arrive at Frankly Speaking only by playing around the root word of our name. But it is likely we think we are, indeed, frank. If only half of us were really frank, what a world of trouble this would be, as frankness is not one of the great qualities of those who make people feel good. Frankness is often hateful and annoying. Frank speakers are self-professed mirrors and they hurt the beholder. Yes, we do.
3.) What a shame all the same for me! I should have been the wiser to have suspected that for not using my unique African name on my blog, I exposed myself to this shame of sharing a banalized English coinage - Frankly Speaking.
In fairness to myself though, what if I had used Bayen? Just google the name Bayen, you'll find that name which is unique even to my tribe in Cameroon, is a surname in Ethiopia, France, Germany... and where else?
Frankly Speaking, it is a global village, and where better than through the world wide web, for such a remark to hit me straight in the face?
Now that I know I’m not the only Frank in the world thinking I speak frankly, I’ve come to a few conclusions:
1.) Most of us called Frank think we are frank people. I do. My friend and GHS Limbe classmate, Okole Winston "Kool", now somewhere in the U.S., always reminds me I was fond of saying: "I'm as frank as my name." Looks like we Franks around the world form a tribe of self-professed frank speakers.
2.) The World Wide Web (www) that brings out – more than anything else I think – the notion of the global village, has only established its network of our dispersed “tribe” – the Franks tribe. But it has also taught me that God's creations are made in like manner. No one is an island. No one is unique. Along certain lines, sometimes based on what we think of ourselves (like Frank is frank), we – or many of us – think alike. It may be that most of us called Frank arrive at Frankly Speaking only by playing around the root word of our name. But it is likely we think we are, indeed, frank. If only half of us were really frank, what a world of trouble this would be, as frankness is not one of the great qualities of those who make people feel good. Frankness is often hateful and annoying. Frank speakers are self-professed mirrors and they hurt the beholder. Yes, we do.
3.) What a shame all the same for me! I should have been the wiser to have suspected that for not using my unique African name on my blog, I exposed myself to this shame of sharing a banalized English coinage - Frankly Speaking.
In fairness to myself though, what if I had used Bayen? Just google the name Bayen, you'll find that name which is unique even to my tribe in Cameroon, is a surname in Ethiopia, France, Germany... and where else?
Frankly Speaking, it is a global village, and where better than through the world wide web, for such a remark to hit me straight in the face?
