04 Jul 2014

What sought of thing will make you appear dumb on Facebook?

Posting a status and no one commenting or liking it? Accidentally commenting on someone’s status or blurting about something you should not have?  There is really many things you can do to expose your foolish side.

The classic is the latest scandal coming out of Botswana, created unwittingly by some Batswana facebookers.  Here is what happened.

Someone, far away in the United Kingdom posted in a newspaper Facebook page that with effect from July 6, Britons would no longer be using cash to pay for their bus fare. The newspaper is called VOICE.

It appears a number of Batswana facebookers had ‘liked’ the newspaper before. It also appears they automatically assumed the newspaper was that Ghetto paper, our very own THE VOICE.  The discussion went somewhat like this:

VOICE POST: Sunday, 6 July, you will no longer be able to use cash to pay for your bus fare!!

BATSWANA aNSWERS: Le wonilwe Batswana, don’t be surprised ka di 6 July fa condaye e batla receipt a sa batle madi. Ijaaaa!! [You have been warned, do be surprised on July 6 when the combie (minibus) conductor refuses your money but wants a receipt].

“Tlang ka malapa,tlang ka bana,tlang ka ditsala,tlang ka diphuthego, base di pagangwa mahala” [Come all; bring your kids, bring your friends, bring your churches, buses are free];

“Go duelwa ka eng jaanong? koko kana podi?” [So what do we pay with? Chicken or goat?];

The comments continue – and get dumber – until one asks concernedly why no one is commenting in English. The poor fellow would have thought the resurrection had taken place and she remained with an unknown people.

That is if she is a pentecostal Christian. But the Batswana facebookers heckled her: they told her she could consult Google translate! Finally an enlightened Motswana came to the rescue of our beautiful country:

COMMENT: Congratulations, you guys just made the white man win... This proves their point that Africans are ignorant and can be stupid. You guys are making a fool outta yourselves n it’s really sad.... This is a UK paper not a Botswana newspaper. Let us stop acting stupid. It is embarrassing.

And so the “Dear Idiots” as another facebooker called them, stopped posting. Next time be careful what you comment on. ENDS