A
few weeks ago Omo and I were trawling through the Sales aisle at TK
Maxx and I saw a pair of Kurt Geiger flip flops for £12.99. I turned
them around to see if there was another label to indicate a further
slash in the price. Nothing.
They
were pretty, and my feet looked good in them. They also looked quite
durable; but, somehow I was unable to justify buying rubber flip flops
for anything more than £5. Omo’s subtle reminder of the ‘Carvela’
imprint on the inner soles earned her a smirk and a retort: “And so? I
can’t spend my money on this kind of thing please!”
With
an exasperated sigh, she threw the slippers in my shopping cart and
said, “If you won’t buy slippers that you LIKE, then I don’t know what
you’d rather spend money on.”
The
thing with spending money and allocation of priorities is a really big
deal; it is even more so when you realize the complex and diverse nature
of human beings. Relationships have been known to come apart at the
seams – because one person would spend £1200 on a Mac Book Pro, which
their partner sees as a complete waste of resources. Another person
might consider it better to pay for an apartment that costs millions of
Naira in a particular area, than buying a house in another area.
It
isn’t even really a case of being wasteful in general; it is the idea
that what one person considers a worthy purchase isn’t necessarily that
valuable to the next person. It is an essential part of what makes us
part of a dynamic society. As clichéd as this may sound: to each his
own.
My aunty was constantly
complaining about my niece being wasteful since she would only buy her
coats from Macys and Nordstrom. Imagine my surprise when I went shopping
with aforementioned aunty and she wouldn’t leave the Furla store until
she bought a beautiful mustard handbag!
People
spend money on things they place premium value on, and as long as value
systems differ, expenditure profiles will never be the same. The peace
of mind that comes from understanding this goes a long way in oiling the
wheels of smooth social interaction.
So,
we can all agree that we’re on the same page at this point right? Now,
the problem comes when, in trying to respect everybody’s value slash
spending ratio, a person’s right to enjoy his/her goods is now infringed
upon.
Your friend is a sucker for
designer handbags. It’s her thing. You, on the other hand, don’t really
understand why someone would buy a bag worth $1,500. On the day she
brings it home, you jokingly give her lip about how she’s such a big
spender on ‘irrelevant’ things. You both laugh. No hard feelings – love
long time and all that. The problem arises when every time your friend
wants to carry her handbag and it’s not in the closet where she hung it.
For some reason, that bag seems to match every thing you wear these
days. You can’t stop yourself from carrying that bag, hard as you try to
fight it. The lure of pretty shiny things that cost you nothing cannot
be overstated.
Someone
prefers to buy and use Andrex toilet paper. You are unable to
understand why a person would spend over a thousand Naira on ‘ordinary
tissue paper’; you are ‘smart and economical’ enough to buy Rose tissue
that costs 200 Naira. You really don’t mind the not-so- smooth feel of
the sheets. It’s just tissue, afterall. Why then would you leave your
Rose tissue in your drawer and find yourself gravitating towards the
Andrex, which your ‘wasteful’ friend has purchased? In fact, you use the
Andrex 4 times more than the purchaser!
Why?
Ladies, and gentlemen, that’s simply bad behaviour.
Ladies, and gentlemen, that’s simply bad behaviour.
Sometimes,
the monetary value of the thing being encroached upon is immaterial.
The fact that the encroacher doesn’t deem it fit to purchase their own,
while steadily depleting the next person’s resources does not seem fair.
When
we were at Law School, Bwari, my friend, Frosty, couldn’t understand
why her roommate would never ‘invest’ in bags of ‘pure water’ –
especially when she used it ALL THE TIME. According to Frosty, her
Roomie didn’t like the idea of brushing her teeth with the water from
the tap (or saved in the drum). It had to be ‘pure water.’ But, Roomie
wasn’t the sort to buy pure water in bags – meaning that she never had
her own supply of brushing teeth water. Frosty, on the other hand, only
drank ‘pure water’, and ensured she never lacked. The pure water supply
was finishing at a rate faster than she planned.
“So,
what does she spend her money on, if she won’t buy pure water?” I
asked, unable to stop the laughter that came as a result of my friend’s
distress.
“Ribena.”
“Can she use the Ribena to brush her teeth instead?”
“The annoying thing is that she sees me sending them to buy the bag of water. She never offers to buy her own.”
Frosty eventually had to devise a means of hiding her bag of water. Lord have mercy!
I
believe that one should be allowed the privilege of choosing what one
wants to buy with one’s resources without judgement – especially since
the value one place on things varies.
This
is a lesson I’m learning slowly. I am not proud of the way I screamed
when I found out how much it costs to add letters on football jerseys –
and my friend, Mo’ wanted to have ‘The Detonator’ written. A whole 12
letters!
“Why are you wasting money? What is wrong with the two letters of your initials?”
Was it my money?
For
peace to reign, we need to do better. Live, and let live. Every once in
a while, it’s okay to buy useless flip flops for £12.99 – even if you
have to struggle to see the ‘Carvela’ after 4 wears!
Let’s
have a laugh this morning. Please share some of the things you spend
money on which people just don’t ‘get’. Oh and tell us some of your
stories about encroachers… And if you’re the encroacher… tell us why
you’d rather drive your friend’s BMW 7 series than your Mazda 626
(Especially when you sniggered at his excessive spend.)
Have a beautiful week ahead. Remember to spread only good tidings! Life is too short to be abrasive and mean.
A special thank you to everybody who called, emailed and left a comment last week. The meltdown was so real! You guys helped me back up. You’re the best audience EVER!
A special thank you to everybody who called, emailed and left a comment last week. The meltdown was so real! You guys helped me back up. You’re the best audience EVER!
Peace, Love & Crunchy Celery sticks!