The Sunday Mail
Ghetto whispers
Rosenthal Mutakati
HAVING fried sausages and soup rich in tomatoes, onions and many other unusual ingredients for breakfast is to most ghetto people a sign of living the good life.
So keen are most people to have those around them think they are sitting pretty that they would rather take their meals outdoors for all and sundry to see.
Others will invite well-to-do neighbours for breakfast just to make them think mouth-watering and sumptuous meals are part of their everyday life.
It can be worse for the percentage of our population that grew up in abject poverty.
These characters go out of their way to borrow suits, shoes, cell phones and even cars to look chic at a peer’s wedding.
Failure to operate the gadgets they would have borrowed often betrays them.
Also, wait until they break their side of the bargain and you start seeing the embarrassment they have to put up with and you shudder to think whether this was necessary in the first place.
In this evil world, there are some women who charge a fee to men seeking to parade them as theirs at weddings, parties and other public places.
Such people have sadly managed to hoodwink a few and contributed to the collapse of their marriages.
“Tichaona, you must be serious with your life.
How come Sylvester, whom you grew up with, is driving a top-of-the-range car while you make
do with public transport.
I would rather we stop dating and you can always come back when the engine is firing,” I heard my nephew being told straight in the face by a curvy lass he adored.
But he is not the only victim.
A youthful workmate told me he was told off after he failed to buy pizza like his high-flying classmate.
“Some guys lie a lot. In fact, they live a life of lies. They make a woman believe they have cash, only for the truth to come out when they are deeply involved.
My girlfriend almost ditched me, thinking I was stingy.
I was only saved when the bloke she had set focus on got arrested.”
Called “kufletsa dollar”, “kutetena finance”, “kudishura chibhanzi” or “living large”, this quest to be perceived as sophisticated has often landed people in trouble.
As I commit pen to paper, gentle reader, prisons, police stations and the courts of law are awash with cases of people who misappropriated funds just to be seen to be living large.
While some people who commit such crimes rush to extinguish the fire by borrowing from others to cover their backs, the prevailing inflationary environment has not made this easier for many.
But this does not start at tertiary level.
It starts even at home, when children generally use less money for household provisions like gas and groceries before splashing the remainder on buying girls good food in the city.
Maids also do the same.
They sometimes pass themselves off as younger sisters of their employers and pose for photographs in the employer’s best attire and bedroom.
The cat is, however, let out of the bag the moment the photographer brings the photos
in the maid’s absence.
Lies often do the rounds while the truth is still putting on his shoes.
It is essential to live according to our means and use the little we have to develop ourselves.
One day, we shall also make it.
Inotambika mughetto.
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