By Denton Josey, Page Editor

I never like it when people point guns at me.

Of all the things you could point with, guns are pretty much my least favorite, especially considering all the things guns do. I think mostly they shoot bullets, though I have seen them used as a club, like on MacGyver. MacGyver never shot people, but if he had a gun in his hand he only hit people with it. I think guns are pretty much always packing a massive potential to hurt someone or something.

If you are like me and don’t like guns pointed at you, here’s my advice:

Wear your seatbelt.

No one in Kenya wears a seatbelt on the bus for more than five minutes. That’s because for five minutes the police come down the aisle and check to ensure everyone is wearing one. I’ve only had a gun pointed at me twice, and one of those times it was for not wearing my seatbelt. I was on a bus in Kenya and the bus came to a police check. The police would inspect the bus and then come see if everyone was wearing a seatbelt.

This particular day I was feeling a little defiant and thought I would wait until the last second, until the policeman was only a few rows up, before I put on my seatbelt. Only, on this day I was missing my seatbelt.

I was sitting with four friends and they were all wearing theirs. I panic and started searching but before I could find it the policeman found me. When I say policeman, don’t picture a friendly guy in blue; no, this was a man in full camouflage, a semi-automatic gun and a face that said he was having a rough day.

Next thing I know, I was shown the exit because the policeman pointed with his gun after he pointed it at me. He took me out side on the side of the road and started yelling at me in Swahili. I just listened, and tried to look repentant.

After a while the bus driver spoke with the policeman and I was allowed back on the bus. As I went to my seat I saw my buddies smirking at me. Confused, I sat down and started to ask why all the smiles when I noticed I was sitting on my seatbelt. That is when my friend Mark told me through chuckles how he hid my seatbelt before the policeman came.

I learned a lot that day. Like how important it can be to speak another language, how important it is to communicate with your friends what jokes are funny and what jokes could end with you in jail or shot. But mostly, I learned to wear my seatbelt. Since that day I don’t forget to wear a seatbelt. And I’d like to point out that I haven’t once been held at gunpoint for neglecting to click it since then.