It was the norm to start cutting grass once you gained admission into secondary school in our days. I resumed like every other student to ACA with one cutlass and a hoe. My first labour day was a baptism of fire. We were filed out from the assembly ground like prisoners, with only the seniors in charge. The first call was if you're not with your cutlass move out of the queue and the next thing is 'gbas...gbos', sounds of the ragging belts. This will scare you with a cutlass to the teeth. You hear seniors nicknames. Like 'Bembutu, Agbas' etc You'll also remember your mummy name in this instance as if it were a war zone. Students without cutlass remained on their knees. Over to you with cutlasses, there is a test of strength for cutlass too. If your cutlass bent, you're as good as you belong to no cutlass class...another beating. Now unto the recruits, who have their strong cutlasses to work. We were taken to grown lawns and the instructions were ditched out, to a left turn and space out with your legs. This is your portion to an end. If you have longer legs, your portion will be wider. Next command is you must not stand, bend you back and eat the grass "e je oko yen'. If you stood straight, expect a whacking from the back. The labour period was timed and the grown grasses must go down within the space of that time. If you called in sick on labour day, you have not escaped. It will be noted and you'll surely eat your portion when you arrived. We got strengthened after a few times of hard labour.
The irony of it was fellow students butchering others with cutlass because of misunderstandings. If your edges were not straight too, you'll re- dimension with your neighbour and trim off the patches.
This was how we grew.
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