ABOUT MARRIAGE AND WEDDING

ABOUT MARRIAGE AND WEDDING

I was thinking this morning..... about ceremonies. Birthdays, marriage and wedding. No, I am not thinking about getting married because that ship sailed over 15 years ago. Yes, birthday is somewhat on my mind, because it's my wife's birthday today. Where I sat at the beauty salon the other day, I saw a sign on the mirror that says 'For your events such as marriage, wedding, birthdays, naming ceremony and burial ceremony, call the DJ on 080x xxx xxx.' For some seconds I was trying to make sense of the difference between marriage and wedding ceremonies. In trying to do so, I asked my barber the difference between marriage and wedding as contained in the advert and he answered in pidgin English, 'you know say some people go do marriage and no go do wedding.' At that point I knew I was looking for snow in Warri on the sunny February afternoon.

The response of this young man exposed how confused so many are about the difference between marriage and wedding. For this group, traditional wedding is 'marriage' while the joining in church is 'wedding.' So for those of you that did only 'marriage' and did not do 'wedding,' you are on your own. Lol......

When I left the salon and sat in my car, the thought lingered. I wondered why anyone will not understand that wedding is the collective name used for all the ceremonies and rituals that take place to give social acceptance to the relationship between two people while marriage is the name of a lifelong institution, which starts after the wedding. I was thinking, If a typical Warri boy that was brought up to reason in pidgin English can understand this, why are some struggling?

As I thought to know why, I noticed that I had written 'beauty saloon' in the first paragraph and it didn't look right to me. I considered whether the right word should be 'salon' or 'saloon.' When I couldn't come up with a clear answer without calling a friend called 'Google,' I accepted that it will be hypocritical to blame my barber or the DJ that put the advert in his salon, for not knowing the difference between marriage and wedding.

With my tail inbetween my legs, I called my friend, Google and found out that saloon is a room or establishment where alcoholic beverages are served over the counter, while a salon (as in beauty salon) is a shop where hairdressers and beauticians work, and where people go to avail beauty treatments and other services. Saloon is also used to describe a type of car. A saloon in US means a sedan. I also discovered that salon and saloon have the same origin, and they come from French Salon meaning a large room. Why then are they confusing everyone with the extra 'o,' I had thought.

Having made peace with myself that I had not judged the barber and DJ, I decided it was time to go home. But wait a minute! Should I be going home or to my house? I know that house refers to a building in which someone lives, while a home can refer either to a building or any location that a person thinks of as the place where he lives and that belongs to him. At this point my confusion was spilling over and surely it's more than enough thinking for one day. As I thought on this, I was reminded of the admonition of Matthew 7:1, 'Judge not, that ye be not judge.' But as I run home or to the house, all I can say is 'Abe mi kin Orente O' even as we thank God for birthdays, wedding and marriage.

Happy Sunday.






.....Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey.