‘Real men don’t cry’ is one of the top three most stupid and inaccurate things I have ever heard. Men cry, that’s the reality of life and it doesn’t make them less of men. To help illustrate and normalize men crying for normal and silly things, we asked a few men what the weirdest and silliest reasons they’ve shed a few tears for is.
Uche, 26.
In secondary school, there was a girl I liked so on the last day of school for the year I used my last card to buy her snacks and then I put in one love letter I wrote. I kept it in her locker and walked away. When the school day ended, I saw aunty walking home with another guy and laughing after eating the snacks I spent my last card on. Omo, I cried oh. Now I look back at it and shake my head because why was I so dramatic.
Doubra, 29.
Do you know when Nokia Xpress music was a thing? So I bought a blue one and one day, I forgot it was in the pocket of my trousers and I put my trousers to soak in a bucket of water. I was looking for the phone for a long time and when I found it, I just started crying because why would the universe do this to me?
Ahmed, 24.
Last year, I had a stressful couple of weeks and I was supposed to fly home to Port Harcourt for a family meeting because we were making plans for me to leave the country for my masters. Anyways, I entered the road two hours before boarding time. I was in traffic for about two hours thirty minutes. I started praying for the flight to be delayed and luckily, it was but only by twenty minutes. I got there as the plane was just taking off. Man, I had nothing else to do but cry.
Ryan, 26.
So one day, I had a conversation with a few friends and I mentioned that I had never watched the movie Titanic and they were all shocked and confused. Then I said to myself that I needed to see what it was all about. Man, I cried that day. I don’t even know why but the way I cried, Jesus is lord. That’s the silliest thing that has made me cried.
Ben, 22.
I think the silliest reason I have ever cried is that I was ghosted by a guy. We went on one date and me being me, I started planning the wedding because I thought he was the one. Anyways, he ghosted me the next day. I called for days and he didn’t pick and he didn’t reply to my text. The next time I saw him was when my friend showed me the picture of the person they slept with the previous day and it was him. I went inside my room and cried myself to sleep.
Bello, 28.
In my first year in university, I saw my first-semester result and I had three Bs and a C. Before this, I had been a straight-A student so the Bs shook me but the C, I wanted to die. I cried so hard and my friends were telling me that it’s a good result and I should be happy. In my head, I was thinking I’m not like you people, don’t compare yourself to me. The funniest part? I had a carryover in my second year. So clearly, uni is a different ball game.
