The Stains

It is arguable which between man and stains precede(s) the other. Even if there were stains before man descended on the earth, it is doubtful whether they were effective before he started making his presence felt thereon. Was the earth stained prior to human habitation?
There is no doubt that man is born stained. That is why he has to be sprung clean once he is born into the world in which he has not only come to stain but in which he is supposed become (more) stained as he progresses in life.
Even the (un)professional nurses who try to spring-clean him are stained. It is doubtful whether in attempting to rid him of pre-natal stains they would not brand him with post-natal stains which some, if not all, bear from birth. At least they have the privilege of starting him off on stain c(o)urse!
As soon as he is assumed clean and passed as fresh, he is passed from one stained hands to another in admiration and jollity. While this is going on, he is circumstanced by his feeding habits and the quality and quantity of he is what he is fed with to stain himself. It is funny that while he does this helplessly, if he is fortunate to be ensconced in good hands, he is sweetly de-stained and swiftly prepared to assume his infantile freshness again. If he is not so fortunate, he may have to bear some of the stains that are thus forced to remain, for the rest of his childhood if not the rest of his life.
It is nice to compare how he was de-stained in those days of napkins with these days of disposable pampers. When he was draped in napkins, all care was taken to clean out both him and the napkins. This is because there were just no two ways about dealing with him and his mess. Even if it was felt that he was sensitive to water, he was made to become used to it for the purpose of leaving him without avoidable stains and for his own good.
Then it was not a compliment to have stained napkins. Every effort was made to make them spotless and make him somewhat stainless. It was a thing of pride to have a long line of neatly spread squeaky clean napkins. What hard work mothers, caring husbands or house helps, as the case might be, had to do then!
Those who could not afford napkins and had to convert cotton wraps to napkins knew how often they had to wash them. Tending him was synonymous with some washing. The rough bare hands spoke volumes for many!
Nowadays, disposable pampers have pampered him to no end and wipes have wiped off the memory of his sensitivity to the drudge of constant water. Where water would do, wipes would just wipe everything off. The question is even if the wiping does not at once leave any apparent trace, for how long?
Even in the best of times, there are stains that would not just go. His stains are thus sustained until he is old enough to carry on all by himself. He is stained by crawling, walking, riding, driving or driven by labour; he is stained by flying or being flown by kite. He swims to clean out the sweat from exercise or lack of it. Where the pool is stained, the more the merrier!
Is it because of the Hebrew proverb that stains are not seen at night that makes him proudly display his stains in the dark? Wait until lights are shone on them!
As he grows, the force of intercourse may deepen his stains or lighten them depending on the depth of such stains and the level to which he has to carry them. The effect each would have on him depends on how he acquired them. If he has to carry the avoidable ones too far, they would go a long way in adding to his built-in indelible stains. God helps him if he has to carry them or if they have to carry him to the position of power and responsibility!
It is hard to imagine how he can abstain from stains which stick to him like his shadow. Is he worthy of pupilage or studentship if he is not stained by ink of hard study? Yet his school uniform is supposed to be spotless?
It is strange sometimes when as an adult he shamelessly jettisons stained clothes in preference to spotless ones when he himself is stained all over! And how long do they remain spotless? How long his life-long partners display indelible stains depends on how well they can do without post-bath head-to-toe self-inflicted smear campaign!
How clean and fresh will he look without being smudged by mud especially when his feet are caught in wet clay on a typical rainy day? His blue Jeans was once not it without bearing bleached whitewash. How stubborn would his socks of pupillage be if browned by stains of brown study? What stubborn resistance can his teeth offer to stains made by the bitters which he chews so religiously? How deep will the holes made by his sweets be before his teeth go with them?
Is any glass worthy of being looked if it has not borne the stains of fingerprint? What carpet however royal and what mabled tiles are without their own unique stains? Which wall is free of the stains of graffitists? Is any sports club worth the support of its fans if they do not stain themselves with its colours? Which currency is free from hand stains? Which hedonistic frame is devoid of the stains of dye, embroidery, frills, henna, paint, tattoos and tapestry?
Who is secure from the contagion of the world’s (s)low, deep stains? The fact that man has to go back to water as constantly as his life hearkens after it is meant to make him shed a little of the stains his body could let him with a view to reducing them to the barest minimum; if his mind permits!
Whatever is laced with human touch must (be) stain(ed)! Not least Nigeria which has the distinction of having (been) passed from one stained hands to another ad infinitum. Yet it is still expected to (be)come clean!
The deep oil-stains this nation spills daily on its essence and worth may never be erased as long the stains remain embeded in its nurture.
And the national outcry would in desperation and exasperation be likened to Lady Macbeth’s : Out, damned spot! I say!