By Edna Mubiru

WHEN I read that bars might, in future, close by 10:00pm, many things ran through my head. I pitied many men. I pitied them because the bar is, for some, a place to find solace from the three-day war of silence with wifey.

One bar-loving friend went through my mind over and over. I pitied him because his beloved kafunda will lose its character.

It will no longer be the place for him to chill all night and have the same conversation over and over with his friends for the bigger part of the night and depart the next morning.

Even if it gained hotel status and was allowed to stay open later, his crew would have to style up to fit in. And that would kill the whole thing.

He will start answering to his wife when he gets home late because that is the one place she is sure he is when he is late getting home. He will have to find a hotel to take the kafunda’s place, but the hotel drinks are more expensive.

Or he will have to shift the bar back home but he cannot move his rowdy friends with him. Neither can he shift it into another friend’s house because their wives will not allow it.

After him came my young cousin who loves to hang out in bars until the wee hours of the morning. He is too young to afford a constant flow of drinks at a decent hotel and he is likely to move the bar back home.

That is a relief for me because I do not have to stay up worrying and praying for him not to get mugged in the wee hours of the morning.

I do not have to wake up at 5:30am to open the gate for him and pay the boda-boda rider who has mercifully brought him safely, wallet and mobile phone intact.

Come to think of it, all mothers will be glad to have daddy back home in time to say the night’s prayers and read a bedtime story to the children.

And when the children are off to bed, she can get cuddly with him or catch a movie and a drink in the house, or more. If that is not marital bonding, I do not know what is.

Marrieds will also start seeing their fights and arguments through. There will be no more “You are blowing this out of proportion, I will be at the bar when you decide to see reason,” excuses to get out of fights.

The bars will be closed, the hotel bill might be bigger than you can afford, so you have to stick it out. The two will have to stay around their sulky selves until they see reason and work through their issues. This is good for marriage.

With the World Cup coming, we shall have more men watching late night matches from home so we, the ladies, might learn to appreciate the game beyond loving Fabregas and Ronaldo.

And the guys will no longer be embarrassed to take us to the bars for afternoon matches because after the in-house training, we shall speak during half-time and our men will mentally thump their chests for having women who can speak so authoritatively about football.