At the George H.W. Presidential Library.

Where I come from, labeling someone as “bush” is a somewhat derogatory term, associated with actions deemed unclassy, unsophisticated and untrendy. I really care less about how those constructs were normalized, but I have been called bush several times by friends who cannot understand my preference for using clean palms to grub a dish of pounded yam and delicious seafood okro instead of cutlery. It is also a no-no to sit on the floor; most people would rather stand even when their feet hurt for fear of being called a bush person!

And then I get to Aggieland, and almost everywhere, someone is sitting on the floor reading a book – even by the roadside! Everywhere you turn, you see a bush person, only this time around, identifying with bush is the real deal; the Bush School, the Bush Bus, the Bush library, the Bush Children center, and several outstanding meaningful legacies of the phenomenal, well respected, 41^st president of the United States of America. This blog wasn’t intended for him, but you should totally read about how brilliant he performed throughout his lifetime and his incredible family tree, which also produced two governors and the 43^rd president of the U.S. When I visited the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, I was totally sold; I would remain a happy bush girl forever. It was surreal to witness his final moments December 2018. His son, former president George W. Bush said about him: "He looked for the good in each person, and he usually found it.”



So, that was a mixed digression, and now it is about the beg button on Olsen Blvd. Unless you come from a place blessed with poor leadership and inadequate road infrastructure like mine, you would not understand when I say one pleasant shock here in Aggieland is the warm love the pedestrian community receives. I have this huge confidence – head high and proudly strutting – whenever I walk on zebra crossings. Initially, I would wait endlessly for a walk signal at intersections, until I realized there was a beg button – why I thought it worked as a remote sensing button was random. Then it took several days after to realize there were instructions on those poles; I make very good fun of myself over this.

So, at the intersection of Olsen Blvd this fateful day, sometime around the second week of class, a young girl was on a call, phone held to her ears as she looked back and forth, left and right; the light was red, and I was listening to Peace 107.7 FM. Then, the lights turned green, all cars moved, and in that moment, this girl walks into the road. Holy cow, all I heard were different levels of screeching brakes! The girl was so confused, she didn’t know if to get off the phone, go back to the roadside, or keep moving across. Then it dawned on me what had happened; oh no – she had misinterpreted the buttons just as I did several moons ago. The walk signal was active but not in the direction she was headed; there was confusion and almost collision. But, wait for the best part: No horns blared!! No screams, no crash, and no accident. I bet she got home safe, too. This is the real deal!!! This is what happens when you really get tested before getting issued a driver’s license. I shook my head, said a word of prayer – so grateful to be where people collectively extend grace to their fellow humans. I refuse to think what could have possibly happened, if it were the Lagos Island zebra crossing back in Nigeria – its best unimagined.


– Woome

Olawunmi Ilesanmi is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications.