Yahoo, it's Christmas Day! For me, I have always loved this day since I was a young boy because I get to feast on sumptuous dishes and drink lots of juice. And as I now get older and wiser, I am also celebrating this day since it commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, my best friend in whom are hidden all knowledge and wisdom.

As I prepared to usher this special day yesterday, I thought about the atom bomb and its possible potential to save the human civilization from extinction. Are you ready to hear my idea? Okay... On your mark... Get set... Read!

The creation of the atom bomb was first thought possible by a team of scientists that included the great particle physicist Albert Einstein. In a letter written in 1939, Einstein advised Franklin Roosevelt, the then President of the United States, that the United States government sets aside funds to construct the bomb. Mark you, 1939 was one of those years preceding World War 2 during which enemy nations were rising against the United States, such as Japan which in 1941 bombed the Pearl Harbour in the U.S. State of Hawaii.

Roosevelt acceded to Einstein's request and in a short time, the United States government set aside funds for the construction of the potentially lethal bomb. And in a few years, the created atom bombs were secretly tested which proved to be as lethal as Einstein had predicted.

And you know what? In 1945 when Japan continued being a pain in the [insert body part here] to the United States during World War 2, Harry Truman, the then President of the United States who had succeeded Roosevelt, ordered two atom bombs to be dropped in Japan. The effect of the bombs were so devastating that Japan quickly surrendered. And that ended World War 2.

It's interesting to note that Albert Einstein, who masterminded the construction of the atom bomb, had fled Germany, another enemy nation of the United States during World War 2, in the 1930s to avoid the injustices that were meted out to the Jews by the barbaric Nazi regime headed by Adolf Hitler. The escape of Einstein from Germany turned out to be a big blessing in disguise because had he stayed in Germany, he would have assisted the barbaric Nazi regime in creating the first atom bomb which would have made the world take an unfair dangerous turning point. God be thanked that it is the just and fair United States government, with its tenets of liberty and justice for all, that first created the atom bomb.

The United States was lucky to have been the only nation on Earth in 1945 with the intelligence and resources to create an atom bomb. So when it dropped the lethal bombs on Japan that year, no opposing nation could counter the aggression.

Today, things have changed because every major power has an arsenal of atom bombs. The Soviet Union, for instance, constructed an even more lethal Hydrogen bomb a few years after the end of World War 2. So if Washington decides to drop an atom bomb in Moscow now, ten minutes later, Chicago and New York City will be annihilated. It's now not an issue of dropping the atom on somebody; it's now an issue of dropping the atom bomb on everybody.

I think that's why in 1949, Albert Einstein quipped, "I do not know with what weapons World War 3 will be fought but World War 4 will be fought with sticks and stones." Of course Einstein's point, I think, was that World War 3 would involve the use of advanced atom bombs that would wipe out all civilized men on Earth, sparing only bushmen in remote areas who would use sticks and stones in World War 4.

With gratitude and profound respect, I salute all the world leaders since the end of World War 2 who laboured wisely and diligently to prevent the occurrence of another world war which would have led to a nuclear holocaust. Leaders like John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Colin Powell and Mikhail Gorbachev.

The atom bomb is lethal for shizzle. That's why I have listed it as one of the scientific marvels on the side bar of this blog. Once you are through with reading this story, I advise you to go through this blog's side-bar, which I modified two days ago, to see the full list of scientific marvels together with other amazing facts and words of wisdom.

Coming back to the issue of the atom bomb, I remembered yesterday reading in an old international news magazine (either Time or Newsweek), when I was in Fourth Form at Starehe Boys' Centre, of a massive celestial body that bombarded Jupiter circa 1994. Scientists estimate that the impact didn't affect Jupiter that much since the planet is gigantic. But if the same celestial body had bombarded the Earth, which is far too smaller than Jupiter, it's effect on our grand and beautiful planet would have been so catastrophic that it would probably have led to the extinction of some living species on Earth.

I therefore thought to myself as a wise man would think, "How about using the atom bomb to prevent such a catastrophe?" And from that question, I came up with what I call the Thuita Doctrine® which states as follows:

The international community should team up to create seven extremely lethal atom bombs that should be rocketed to the international space station in readiness to dismantle into dust any massive celestial body that might be detected to be on its way to bombard the Earth.

That Thuita Doctrine® could save the human civilization from the extinction that befell on dinosaurs which some scientists propound was caused by a huge meteorite that struck the Earth during the Mesozoic Era. So the atom bombs, which after World War 2 worried some world leaders that they could end the human civilization, could actually save it from extinction. See?

I have shared this Thuita Doctrine® with the White House as well as with the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA). If my doctrine succeeds in stimulating a lively discussion on that possible virtuous use of the atom bomb, I shall be satisfied. If it leads, however, to the salvation of human civilization from extinction even 1000 years from now, I shall be greatly rewarded. Merry Christmas!

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Bear with me once again, if you will, as I recount on yet other wonderful memories I had at Starehe Boys' Centre. As I have said before, I am just developing a hobby of reflecting on my bygone days, both the heart-warming as well as the buttock-clenching ones, with the aim of either gleaning valuable lessons or enjoying my life again. And that hobby, which is turning out to be more refreshing that watching a wacky movie, is inspiring me to live an honourable life while still a youth so that I can get to enjoy it again when I grow old physically through beautiful memories.

And for today, I will narrate the encounters I had in my high school stream at Starehe Boys' Centre, that's 4F Class of '05. We like calling ourselves The Mighty 4F.

Sometime when I was in Form 2 in 2003, I switched my classroom sitting position so that I could become a desk-mate of a bright and a handsome classmate called Martin Wamoni. At one time in second term that year, Wamoni together with two classmates behind me (Lawrence Sikuku & Kevin Maina) started to criticize me for having a layer of dirt behind my ears.

Back then, I didn't understand why I was dirty as my classmates put it because I used to shower everyday. Recently, I have been thinking the dirt behind my ears resulted from playing volleyball on a dusty court that was later tarmacked, I think in 2006, thanks to persistent follow-up by my volleyball team-mate named Obadiah Mwangi.

Anyway, coming back to that time in 2003 when my classmates accused me of being a dirty ratbag, Kevin Maina stretched my hand during one lesson and started scrawling some stuff on it with a biro. It felt nice to have the biro massage my hand, so I let him do it.

Guess what! The following day, Kevin Maina stretched my hand again only to see the scrawling he had drawn the previous day on it was still visible which made him to tease me in Swahili, "This Thuita doesn't shower properly!"

Haiya! I hadn't realized that Kevin Maina's motive for scrawling on my hand was to test whether I showered effectively. But thanks to him, I began to be more thorough in scrubbing my body during shower-time, a habit I have renewed in the past two months, and which I will strive to maintain in each day of the rest of my life, God-willing.

That time we were in Form 2, we chanced to have been taught Geography by a soft-spoken humble lady whose name I have forgotten. All I recall was that she was the wife of Mr. Juma, another teacher at Starehe back then. So let me call her Mrs. Juma.

One Friday afternoon, Mrs. Juma happened to have been teaching us on the last lesson of the day. As she was moving out of the classroom after she was through with her lesson, she told us, "Do have a wonderful weekend."

Seated on a desk near the front of the classroom, I shouted back, "And you too teacher. Rest in peace!"

Mrs. Juma turned to look at me, and she was like, "What the hell?"

Then when I was in Form 4 in 2005, a classmate of mine named Mwiti Makathimo accused me twice of having bad breath. Again, I didn't understand why Mwiti smelled bad breath in me because I used to brush my teeth every morning after breakfast. But at least he made me more disciplined in brushing my teeth, a habit I have maintained to this day.

Like for the past two years, I have gotten into the habit of brushing my teeth every day after supper. And whenever I skip that habit, as I have at times done when feeling overly exhausted, I have made up for it by brushing the teeth in the morning after waking up the following day. I will keep up that habit in each day of the rest of my life, God-willing, not only to avoid the toothaches that I have heard some of my friends complain bitterly about but also not to discourage my future wife from kissing me. Oh, how I thank Mwiti for pointing out my bad breath back in those days!

By the way, that time I was in Form 4 in 2005, I developed an interest in reading Time, Newsweek and Reader's Digest international news magazines which my father used to buy for us at home. One afternoon, Mwiti spotted me carrying one of those magazines. He asked me to let me have it. I obliged. He looked at its cover page, then perused through it while asking, "Are there pictures of some beautiful women in this magazine?" When he realized there weren't any, he gave it back to me. I am not sure if Mwiti recalls that incidence but I do.

Yes, I have some wonderful memories that I had with my classmates in the Mighty 4F which continued even after we parted when our high school days ended in November 2005. Like sometime in 2011, I disclosed to my 4F classmates in a Facebook group I had created that I was feeling emotionally disturbed. Muthusi Muoma responded to my post by suggesting I needed "chemotherapeutical trivilis".

I didn't know what "chemotherapeutical trivilis" means, so I decided to request Muthusi to expound on its meaning. But to show him that I also know some hard English, I told him to "abjure sesquipedalian obfuscatory argot". To his credit, he took my comment in good humour.

My friend, that's the end of my true story, and I have had a nice time telling it. Thanks for bearing with me.

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story of mine on high school memories, you might also enjoy another one I wrote some time back on "Leadership Lessons". Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.

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