1994 was just a difficult year. We, the younger siblings of my family, were left to fend for ourselves after my mother walked out on the family. Not only were we reeling from the pain of losing our mother, but we had to cope with the harsh realities—bills, clothes, and food. It was a constant struggle to even eat one meal a day. We had days where we barely ate anything. Father was still recovering from stroke and needed more attention. My older siblings were focused on their lives and nuclear families. Basically, we had no financial support. It would take an act of God to get us through this situation.
One day, a group of starving boys in the area organized some families to bring meals to their tables. Each person had to contribute their share in order to partake in this feast. We decided to make rice and chicken stew. It was a popular meal among young adults. My younger brother and I decided to offer our house and kitchen utensils for cooking this food. We offered to provide the meat. You see, our house was known for poultry animals. After my dad’s poultry farm business collapsed years ago, some of the poultry animals were left in the barnyard. They were just picking at food and running loose. We figured that we could catch and slaughter one for the feast.
My younger brother and I spent the morning chasing after the chickens in the yard. We quickly realized that our chickens were mixed up with other family’s chickens and it was hard to tell them apart. Unfortunately, we did not have a lot of time to separate them. We randomly picked one we believed was suitable for the feast. However deep in my gut, I knew this was wrong. The chicken we picked was much larger than our usual chickens. Moreover, it had a rope tied on its legs. I guess we were too hungry to worry about this. We quickly skinned the chicken in our yard.
During the course of making the chicken stew, Dorcas, a younger kid who lived a block away, heard the noise and came over. Like any other kid, she was curious and wanted to find out what was happening. The moment she saw the feathers of the chicken and the rope from the disposed chicken legs she screamed and became emotional. I asked, “Dorcas, what’s the problem?” When she was able to catch her breath, she responded, “This is my mom’s chicken.” “This is our chicken. We’ve been looking for this chicken for days because it was missing.” oh boy, I whispered to myself, we’re in big trouble. She stormed off before I could utter a word.
I lost my appetite. It just left my body. I told the guys I was no longer interested in the feast. I became consumed with worries about how Dorcas’s family, especially her mother, would react. She is a good friend of my parents and might have shared her concerns with them. I was also embarrassed by my behavior. I immediately went over to their house to apologize for thoughtless act. I knew that I had a gut feeling that this was wrong in the first place. .
The lesson learned here is “Don’t ignore your gut feelings.” If you’re doing something dubious, you may have a gut level feeling that it is wrong. Perhaps, it’s wrong. I learned that day that trusting my gut instinct when making decisions is crucial. Never let your immediately circumstances blind your decision making. Trust your gut.