This one really happened, so I was told. The guy borrows his friend’s car for some errand. They always did that, borrowed each other’s cars, that is. Unfortunately, that day the guy is involved in some traffic accident not because of some fault on his part. A heavier car bumps into him and the car ends up with some bump marks and a few scratches. The offender admits his mistakes and agrees to have it fixed. Thus even before the traffic police make their presence felt the whole incident was over. The guy phones the car owner and tells him what happened. “I’m sorry.” But the friend was having none of that. Though the car is in good condition he didn’t make an issue out if it. “Look, the most important thing is that you’re fine.” (If I had the means I’d have named him, ‘Friend of The Year.) After all, having bumping into other cars and having others bumping into him a number of times, he knows what it means driving on Addis roads. The car is fixed that same day; the guy returns his friend’s car; case closed.
When people say “These days nothing is what it seems to be, you’d think they are overshooting the field. Well what we thought was ‘case closed’ was anything but that. A few days later the car owner’s behavior goes into a spin no one could explain. No one also knows where he got the wild idea but he tells people his longtime friend crashed the car deliberately! What’s going on? Search me; It is still an ongoing story but like everything from politics to Portugal’s WC qualifier denied goal theories are flying. The talk making the rounds is third parties are in full paly to break down a friendship that was thought to be rock-solid.
If anyone thinks of pumping sense into all sides, that might not happen soon. The car owner is said to have crashed his car into his friend’s not so modern car while it was still parked! And this was a guy those s close say one of the most rational souls. But whatever reason prompted him to go this far the fact is he was ‘getting even’ with his friend!
I read on one blog or another a person asking that what if a wife whose husband is sleeping around got even by sleeping around too? It sounds foolish, it might be foolish, but for a wife who found out she was sharing her ‘death-do-us-part’ hubby with other nothing is funny. One answer was that she should drain him financially by making expensive purchase. No wonder world is so weird.
Why should someone with very modest income buy the fourth suit in only two months? Maybe he’s trying to get on the nerves of better half. Maybe he thinks the dinner table is seeing too many dishes of shuro and only shuro because she is throwing away the money on cosmetics. Of course, he never gathers the courage to say,” Look you’re the most lovely woman to me on this earth. You don’t need a single vial of cosmetics to impress me. “
Who said she is trying to impress you? No need to pat your own back so hard. She never said she was out to impress you! The question is what kind of getting ‘getting even’ is yours? The teff flour sack is empty, there is only half a liter of edible oil in the kitchen, she is cutting back on the use of salt not medical reasons but a couple of weeks later salt might be only a memory in the household. “Do you remember the times when we used to put salt in our food?” Ha!
Speaking about this to impress or not to impress thing, sometimes we seem to be going too far for comfort. A lady with no need of more closing buys a striking design which dug into the families finances. It is funny; she might be out to the knock the whole world dead with her looks, looks highly bolstered by a dress Halley Berry must have worn at one Oscar or another. But, forgive my non-existent knowledge of the fashion industry but isn’t actually the dress that impresses people, if it ever that is!
Hey lady, just to be diplomatic, I’m impressed by the dress you’re wearing. Where did you get it? Here is the secret; I just wanted to surprise the lady of the house. (Of course, on the other hand if there is anyone the lady of the house should impress in’s me, and only me! I don’t want a testosterone-loaded guy tell me “You’re partner is so impressive in that dress!” (“Oh, is that so! What should you be impressed by someone who is none of your %$#@ business!)
Of course when it comes to her there are other more creative ways to impress me! End of story. So who is impressed by what? We’re impressed by the well-cut dresses not by the ladies! After a couple of days even the dress ‘normal.’ And the poor lady had to pay, as they say, half a king’s ransom for it. So, in these tough times don’t squander you hard earned coins thinking that the world is impressed by you and not by the dress or suit. It isn’t.
You’ll find that out the next time you once again when get into your casual attire.
The Ethiopian Herald 11 April 2021