WHEN illiterate people show off what they have or what they have achieved, they are usually blamed of doing so because they are uneducated and ignorant about things.
In many instances, people who have not gone far in education have had the opportunities of breaking through in life because they have achieved many things through their hard work.
While it is true that education is the key to success, many will agree that there are also many people who are successful in life despite the fact that they have not seen the four walls of a classroom.
Because of their successes, some of them show off and boast while many others are pompous. Some are business executives who run powerful businesses and they show off their big posh vehicles and their plush mansions and some even show off that they take their school going children to expensive private schools home or abroad.
It is because of their not been to school that many people do not give it a damn when they show off or boast about their achievements in life.
But what about when it is the literate people who show off?
Recently, I was at one of the drinking places in Mansa in Luapula Province. Next to the table I was seated, there were three young women and two men. The five were drinking and chatting joyously when another man, probably in his late 30s or in his early 40s, joined them.
Briefly, the new comer talked to one of the women. He then walked to the counter and came back with five bottles of Castle Lager which he placed on the table.
After putting the beer on the table, he told the five that he was not staying because he was busy with some work at home and he hoped he would find them when he came back later in the evening after he was done with whatever he was doing.
The three women and two men thanked the man who bought them the beer as he walked away. When the man was out of sight, one of the women looked at the one who was spoken to by the man and I heard her ask whether the man was normal (referring to the man who had bought the beer).
On hearing this question, the woman who was asked looked perturbed. She looked at her friend before she told her that the man she was talking ill about  was her brother and he was just okay and she wanted to know why she asked that question as the three others burst out laughing.
“I didn’t know that he was your brother. It was Mary who told me when we saw him when he came at the bar in town some time back driving a tractor and wearing a graduation ceremony gown and hat. He parked the tractor at the bar and started drinking. That looked fanny and I thought he was not normal,” the woman said to her friend.
As an eavesdropper, my ears were attracted and I wanted to hear more.
It was while I was waiting to hear more when the other woman started to explain how the man who just bought them the beers had behaved at one time.
Her friend,(the one she was explaining this to)smiled while shaking her head before she told her that she thought that there was something wrong that her brother had done to make her think he was not normal.
According to the woman(the man’s sister), the story of her brother driving the tractor while wearing the graduation ceremony attire was not a new one as many people around the town centre had seen him  that day and it was a talk of the town.
According to the woman, her brother who was a graduate from a known university had a farm in Mansa.
She said her brother got a loan from one of the banks and bought a tractor which was delivered to Mansa via the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The woman explained that when his brother was informed that his tractor would arrive at the boarder between DRC and Zambia, he decided to go to the boarder to go and personally receive the equipment himself.
“When the tractor arrived at the boarder, he was there himself to receive it. After all the paper work (clearing) was done, he drove the tractor all the way from the boarder to Mansa,” explained the woman.
She said when he got home, and after resting, his brother put on the graduation ceremony attire and jumped on to the tractor and drove to town and went from one place to another and from one bar to another to drink.
“Many people saw him and talked about it then. This is no longer an issue to talk about,” said the woman.
After she explained this, one man in the group decided to comment on the drama of wearing the graduation ceremony attire and driving the tractor from one bar to another as a show off.
“I also saw him that day. He is not abnormal but he was showing off of being a university graduate and owning a tractor. Not many young farmers own tractors, but how do you go to bars clad in a gown and driving a tractor. If it were someone who had not been to school, people would have said it was because he was an illiterate and that was the reason why he was showing off. Now that he is an educated man, what would you say?” commented the man.
Then one woman chipped in and commented that although her friend’s brother was educated, he was backwards considering his behavior.
“It is not right to say only those who have not been to school are showier and boastful. There are also people who are educated and are showier, pompous and boastful.
As the topic about the man who was said to be driving the tractor from place to place and wearing the graduation ceremony attire and continued, I noticed that the young woman who was said to be his sister was offended and she was not happy with the subject.
“The man has bought you beers and he has left and now you are talking ill about him. Why do you like back-biting people?” the woman who now looked upset wondered.
Realizing that their friend was annoyed with the accusations piled on her brother, the other two women and the two men remained quite.
The woman picked her beer and had a long swig.
When she placed the bottle on the table, it was empty.
She got to her feet and looking disappointed, she walked out of the bar.
As she was walking away, I recalled when I and my former workmate, Charles Mumba who was a  photographer, at one time drunk with a well-known civil servant who was fond of wearing a graduation gown at the bottle-stores in Ndola’s Chifubu Township.
Indeed, it is not only the illiterate who show-off.
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