Mr. Ssemanda had a problem.

Customers were disappearing from his restaurant.

So he did what any sensible businessman would do.

He painted it.

Bright new colours. New signboard. New chairs. Even those little lights that make ordinary chips look expensive.

For three weeks, Mr. Ssemanda stood proudly at the entrance.

The customers continued disappearing.

So he renovated again.

This time he changed the counter, bought nicer tables and put artificial flowers on every one.

“People want ambience,” he explained.

Uncle Rwamiti was taking tea there one afternoon.

“Very nice,” he said, looking around. “When are you painting it again?”

Mr. Ssemanda frowned.

“I have just finished.”

“Ah. I thought perhaps another coat would bring back the customers.”

Mr. Ssemanda ignored him.

“The economy is difficult.”

Uncle Rwamiti nodded.

Across the road, a boda rider stopped. He collected three bags of food from another restaurant and disappeared.

Five minutes later, another rider came.

Then another.

Uncle Rwamiti watched them.

“Who are those people?”

“Delivery riders.”

“Where are they taking the food?”

“To customers.”

“Customers who are not sitting in the restaurant?”

Mr. Ssemanda looked at him.

Uncle Rwamiti looked at the freshly painted wall.

Then back at Mr. Ssemanda.

“Perhaps the customers have not disappeared.”

Silence.

“Perhaps they have simply moved somewhere your paint cannot reach.”

Mr. Ssemanda stared across the road.

For twenty years, he had known how to run a restaurant.

Good food. Good location. Clean tables. Friendly waiters. Attractive premises.

None of that knowledge had become useless.

But something had changed.

He was still using yesterday’s knowledge inside yesterday’s pathway.

Uncle Rwamiti finished his tea.

“The dangerous thing about knowing how to do something very well,” he said, “is that when it stops working, you may simply do more of it.”

He stood up.

“Careful, Mr. Ssemanda. You may become the best restaurant owner in Kampala at solving a problem your customers no longer have.”

UNCLE RWAMITI

The uncle your parents probably shouldn’t have introduced you to!

Created by: Petero Wamala (Dr)