In the public transport “matatu” today as I was heading to town, then was a middle aged woman occupying the seat in front of me. From where I was, I could see the back of her head and her shoulders, and there was nothing at all remarkable about her. She was wearing one of those synthetic sewed on “hairpiece” that create the illusion that its wearer has a lot of clean, long, straight, smooth, and silky hair. She also had a beige sweater on, and could easily pass for any of the thousands of middle aged women you will see in “matatus” today. But then I noticed that there were a few tiny wild flowers entangled in her hair. The flowers made the little curls at the back of her head look very cute. But it was obvious that she must have walked through a bush and the miniature red and yellow flowers had somehow ended up there without her knowledge.

When she alighted from the “matatu”, the woman walked away oblivious of the fact that she had flowers in her hair. And I wondered what will happen when she eventually finds out: Will she be pleasantly surprised, or visibly upset, or totally indifferent? Whatever her reaction, I was happy that her hair had reminded of the lyrics of an old song:

If you’re going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you’re going to San Francisco
You’re gonna meet some gentle people there

I pray the middle aged woman met some gentle people wherever she was going.

That reminded me of a scene I witnessed a while ago while stuck in traffic along Chiromo Road in Nairobi. There were two “shoe-shine” men sitting under a tree, looking bored as they waited for customers who would want their shoes to be cleaned. The tree they were seated under provided good shade and was covered with a bloom of yellow flowers. It was a windy day and each time the tree branches were shaken, the tiny flowers would fall to the ground, with some landing on the two men. This would bother them and they would unconsciously flick away the flowers that fell on their bodies, as they continued sitting, lost in a world of thought. This went on for a while and then suddenly, there was a huge gust of wind and the tree was now violently quivering from side to side. With that, a hail of tiny yellow flowers descended and within a very short time, it covered a small circle on the ground – literally painting over the two men and their shoe shining paraphernalia with a coat of yellow petals. It was as if the poor tree just couldn’t take all the shaking and had just thrown up yellow all over the place! The two men were so surprised and overwhelmed at the same time that they sheepishly looked at each other and burst out laughing. I was amused by their reaction and as I looked around, I realized that many other people had either started laughing or were now smiling. And as if by magic, the tension of sitting in a Nairobi traffic jam for ages with imminent rain on the way was gone.

At first, an event that brings happiness or even joy can seem to be a bother, until you pay attention to what its message is.

May you meet some gentle people wherever you go today!