Can Sue keep her New Year’s resolutions?

Okay, I say to myself, let me stick it out for a month so that I can at least quit with some money in my pocket. True, by the end of January I will have made some money, but the marketers will have already started running the Valentine advertisements that are of the kosa uchekwe (miss at your own peril) kind.

That’s when I convince myself to hang aroundfor another two weeks. By being part of Valentine’s Day, I can hopefully enjoy a windfall from the lovers and lonely heartsthat come my way. And that’s the point at which I rewrite my streetwise resolutions to focus on an extended stay on the Street.

Firstly, I decide to only focus on valuable customers. In this city, impressions can be deceiving. But the temptation to fall for initial impressions is always there, you know, that love for status. That urge to rush and grab the man driving a Range

Rover Sport, and show my back to the one driving a Spacio. I wish to fight this “blind Nairobi hunger” for prestige, but it’s a

tough one. Still, in my third year in business, I have developed an extra sense that helps me to differentiate between good and bad

customers. Good clients pay the right amount without much ado. And good clients are not necessarily those driving the big,

flash cars. This year, I promise to instill in myself the discipline not to rush for status at the expense of a higher pay.

I also want to avoid what is not legally mine. Those in the know say that this city is small and fluid. If I hurt someone,

the chances of our not somehow bumping into each other are far from negligible. In my profession, my colleagues can easily

smoke me out just to win the victim’s favor. And that’s the mess I always find myself in whenever I pinch something from a man. I become a fugitive with few hiding places. Always on the lookout for the man to come looking for some “instant justice”, police or friends by his side. When temptation rears its head this year, I will resist. I want to avoid catfights in 2012 On the Street, catfights are important for obtaining street credibility. However, when a girl is involved in many fights and loses half of them, then it’s not good for her or her business. During fights, girls are always trying to completely destroy each other, focusing their efforts on the opponent’s face. The results are scars, scratches and black eyes that make a girl lose confidence and, of course, clients. I would like to say that this year I won’t bribe the police or city council askari. However, this might be empty bravado on

my part. After all, in my opinion, few residents of Nairobi can actualize such a resolution.

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