Enough Is Enough!

A few days ago, I posted an article about insecurity in this wonderful community. I promised to my mom that I’d share my personal story. Well, I’m here to fulfill that promise.

My whole life, I’ve been living in fear. Fear of being embarrassed. Fear of being made fun of. I’m so glad I’ve been able to survive a lot of emotional disturbances. This article has been in my google doc for a long time, I keep editing and updating it, waiting for a perfect time before I post it. I feel I’ll be more relieved when so many people read my story.

I was not always a laughing stock, the butt of a joke. My primary school and JSS (Junior Secondary School) days were perfect. Not until I got to SSS1 (Senior Secondary School 1). My mathematics teacher was the first person that noticed. He was the first person that made fun of my insecurity. Before that time, I wasn’t even aware of it.

It was on a Thursday. We had mathematics every Thursday morning. It was a long lecture; I was getting really tired plus I didn’t like the topic he was teaching. I lost focus; I can’t remember what I was thinking. Suddenly he yelled my name, he stood me up and asked me a question about what he was teaching. Unfortunately, I was unable to answer him correctly. “Go back to your seat, it seems rats have eaten your frontal hair with your brain,” he said. Funny, right? Yeah, the other students also laughed. But I didn’t find it funny at all. I was so surprised. “What was he trying to say,” I said to myself.

When I got home that day, I spent about 30 minutes in front of the mirror, examining my face. Yes, he was right, my frontal hair had started to fall out. What caused it! How did it happen? Did rats truly eat it off? I was lost in deep thought. I didn’t sleep early that night. I browsed for more than two hours. I checked a lot of things online; causes of hair loss, how to get rid of hair loss, natural treatments for hair loss, and so on. I slept around 1. a.m that night, hoping my classmates would forget about what the teacher said. Guess what? They didn’t. It continued the next day. We all know how secondary school students like to make jest of people; students, teachers, and even school principals.

I attended a catholic secondary school. Students (both boys and girls) were not allowed to keep full hair, just low cut; styles were not allowed. I’m very hairy; I started growing beards and mustaches when I got to JSS3 (Junior Secondary School 3) I was 14 years old then. If I’m hairy, then why does my frontal hair keep thinning? It became really obvious when I got to SSS2. I couldn’t stand it any longer, I tried using different things I saw online. I tried dozens of natural treatments. Unfortunately, none of them worked. Even my friends made jest of me. I tried dissociating myself from people. It didn’t work, they still made fun of me.

After so much thought, I decided to try something other than natural treatments. I wanted to treat myself very quickly. I went online and searched for drugs to get rid of hair loss. Minoxidil. I read the side effects; irritation, eczema, abnormal hair growth on the body, allergic contact dermatitis, application side redness, worsening of hair loss, burning, respiratory infections, tendinitis, back pain, fractures, sinusitis, edema (fluid retention), anxiety, low blood pressure(hypotension), dizziness, lightheadedness, and faintness. Yes! I saw all the side effects, but I didn’t care, I just wanted a treatment.

The following day, I went to the pharmacy and bought it. It was in a tiny bottle. I read the instructions. I was so happy when it said I should expect visible growth in three months. When I got home, I placed it carefully on my reading table. Luckily, my mum saw it. She was so shocked! “Favour, come here” she screamed. I explained everything to her. She looked at me pitifully. My mom and I talked for more than 3 hours. She ended her talk with “don’t worry, you’re handsome”. Who knows what would’ve happened to me if I had used that drug?

Cheers to all the good mothers out there. With the help of my mom’s words, I was able to overlook my classmates’ hurtful words. Even though I cried sometimes, I’m so glad I was able to survive.

When I graduated from High school/ Secondary school, I was so happy because no one would stop me from keeping full hair. I started trimming my hair instead of the usual low cut. Guess what? Some people still noticed and they made jest of me. Yes, not so many people noticed. But some of my church members did.

Well, you know what? ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Yes! Enough is enough. People will always be mean. They don’t care about what they say. They always find pleasure in making people sad. Like, why would you do that! Isn’t that just so cruel? Don’t you think you’re being wicked?

Recently, I posted an image depicting why you shouldn’t point out insecurities. Guess what? A very good friend of mine replied to that status and made fun of me. I thought he was my friend, but I guess I was wrong. Well, I blocked him. Why would you call yourself my friend and still do things that’d make me sad?

I’ve finally decided to stop wearing caps. LET THEM TALK. LET THEM KEEP BEING MEAN. LET THEM KEEP BEING A WICKED PERSON. They’ll stop when they get tired.