Marie Antoinette lives in all of us.

I think it happens to most of us, well those of us who live a 'privileged life'. At least once in a lifetime there's a moment in which, if you're humble enough, you'll realise the everyday assumptions you make and be grateful for what you've got.
I'll give two examples:

A family friend went to complain at ECG after tehy had turned off the electricity one too many times. Very upset, he explained to them "all my meat, fish and chicken are spoiling due to the lights off!".
To which the ECG man responded " Ey, whilst some of us are struggling to find food to eat, you are complaining about a freezer overflowing with meat!".
Needless to say, he walked away feeling a bit ashamed about his 'frivolous' complaint.

The 2nd example is my own (and I'm still embarrassed by it). Two years ago when we went to Takoradi, just around Cape Coast we first saw a funeral by the roadside, then for several hundred meters afterwards we saw many people in funeral clothes walking towards the funeral. After a while, completely confused, I asked Virgo, "Why did they park so far away from the funeral???".
Virgo, turned to me quite horrified (probably picturing Marie Antoinette in front of him in all her pompidouesqueness) before he answered, "they don't have cars, they're walking from their homes!".

Never before or after has it been so clear to me what a comfortable life I lead. I hope I never have such a moment again as it means I would have lost touch, then again I am grateful for it as it was a reality check and gave me a lot of giggles.

What's your worst Marie Antoinette* moment?

*Marie Antoinette's cry of, "Let them eat cake!" was the straw that broke the camel's back during the French Revolution. The story goes that Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, was informed that her subjects were starving because they had no bread. She was so pampered and out of touch with the reality of life for the poor that she responded, "Let them eat cake," which is what she would have done if she were out of bread. Marie Antoinette was convicted of treason and executed in 1793, months after her husband, King Louis XVI, had suffered the same fate.
Marie Antoinette explanation borrowed from here

Please do not urinate here!

One of the most embarassing things about many Ghanaians or Accraians is that they seem to have embraced public urination. Bloggers before me have written about this phenomenon, fascinated at the skilled techniques used to perfect this action. I think we've all been visually abused by seeing people empty their bladders any and everywhere. Please note however that this act tends to be restricted to certain groups of society, it seems for every one person who does it, there are two who disapprove.

As a newcomer in Ghana the signs one reacts to are the 'please do not urinate here' signs, in addition to other common ones like 'no taxis allowed'. But today I heard the best story of what goes around comes around and if we spread this story perhaps the public urination will finally end.

A (Ghanaian) man living in the States started feeling a bit...desperate. He stopped at the roadside and decide to whip it out and have a pee. However, a police car saw him and pulled over to detain him. After a bit of questioning they asked for his papers and lo and behold: he was in the States illegally! So now he is on his way back to Ghana after being deported. Please oh please can we find this man and have him lecture on the fact that charity begins at home.

If you don't stop peeing all over the walls of Accra, you'll end up pissing your way out of the land of opportunity!