He was seated on a curb outside the restaurant, crying his eyes out. Not the dignified kind of crying, where a single tear rolls down your cheek as you stare heroically into the distance. No. This was ugly crying. The kind where your nose gets involved. The kind where, if somebody takes a photo of you, they have acquired blackmail material for life. A watchman walking past looked at him, slowed slightly, then continued walking. Whatever was happening here was beyond the scope of his duties. Behind him, Nairobi carried on as though nothing had happened. Matatus blasted music so loudly it could be heard in neighboring countries. A boda boda rider narrowly missed a pedestrian and immediately blamed the pedestrian. Someone was selling smokies. Someone was shouting about avocado prices. Life went on. Yet for Mark, civilization had collapsed. Because inside that restaurant sat Cynthia, with another man, a white man. Before you accuse Mark of tribalism, racism, colonial trauma...
A few days ago, I watched a SpaceX rocket launch. Now, let us first appreciate the absurdity of human beings. We looked at Earth — a perfectly functional planet floating peacefully in space — and collectively decided: "You know what would improve this experience? Controlled explosions." And somehow, through caffeine, mathematics, sleep deprivation, and Elon Musk tweeting at 2:13 am, humanity has managed to make giant metallic skyscrapers leave Earth vertically. The rocket lifted beautifully. Employees screamed. People hugged. One man almost ascended spiritually. Another looked as if he had discovered purpose, meaning, and lower taxes all at once. Eventually, the rocket exploded over the Indian Ocean. Somehow, people still celebrated. Which honestly tells you two things: Engineers are emotionally different from the rest of us. Human beings can normalize almost anything if the company culture is strong enough. But while everyone was celeb...