When I moved out of home and started life on my own, the first items that I bought were a television set, a few basic utensils, a paraffin stove, a mattress and bedding. In that order.
At this point, you have either chuckled in amusement or are shaking your head in disbelief at what you believe is the folly of youth. I mean, who buys a TV set before a bed? Or a seat? Talk of misplaced priorities.
But you have to understand that ever since I was young, I loved TV, because I enjoyed movies. Saturday night used to be my highlight of the week, because I got to watch ‘Weekend Movie’, the once a week film that KBC would treat us to. It would start at around 11pm, and by then, the rest of the household would be fast asleep.
By default, therefore, watching TV alone became one of the activities that I enjoy doing alone. Once in a while, if there is a world premiere of a movie that I feel I’d enjoy, I buy myself a ticket and watch it on the big screen. Alone, thank you very much…I once made the mistake of going to watch a movie with someone who, for some reason, found it difficult to follow the plot and kept asking questions. Had I had a bottle in my hand, I would have hit them on the head with it out of frustration. Of course, that is the last time I’ve ever invited someone to go to the movies with me.
Anyway, this long-running love for movies perhaps explains why I bought a TV before I bought a bed. Plus I knew that living alone after being used to living in a houseful of people all my life would get some getting used to, and TV was a good distraction when I returned home in the evening .
What I didn’t know is that I would soon regret buying my valued ‘investment’. I lived on the second floor smack in the middle of a row of single rooms. One day, there was a knock on my door. I wondered who it could be, since I didn’t really know any of my neighbours well enough for them to pay me a visit. I, therefore, opened the door cautiously, only to see my neighbours to the left standing there, looking sheepish.
The three of them were siblings, two young women and their younger brother. We would say hello whenever we bumped into one another in the corridors. They wanted to know whether they could watch a certain World Cup match that was just about to begin. Just that one, they assured me when they saw the surprised look on my face. I have no interest in football at all, not even passing interest, therefore I even had no idea that the World Cup was going on.
I was so taken aback, I stepped aside and allowed them in. By then I’d bought a bed, but was yet to buy seats. They lowered themselves to my bed and sat without preamble. By the end of the almost two hours that the match lasted, I had made up my mind to move out at the end of the month.
I needed to find a house in an area where neighbours kept to themselves, and more importantly, owned TVs. My story today has no moral lesson, but I feel the need to ask; what is the one thing you enjoy doing alone in your free time? Even more interesting, what is the one item you bought when you got your first salary?
