I think one of the most disliked things ever is the idea of unexpected expenses. You could just be doing your own thing, living your best life, and out of the blue, you’d be hit in the face by an expense you didn’t plan for. Of course, there are the expected unexpected, like health emergencies, car emergencies… the ones you know that can’t be avoided. You fix them even though you don’t like it.
However, the most hateful ones are the ones that could clearly have been avoided. They would never not feel like a waste of money to you. Even if it’s a medical emergency that you know could have easily been avoided, you’d be angry when you’re paying for it. As long as you know that something shouldn’t have happened, and if your instructions were completely disregarded, then having to pay for whatever comes next would feel like a punishment.
We’ve all had that moment, and boy, it sure can be painful. I had a pretty chaotic Saturday, and on my way home, all I could think about was just getting home and resting. This was because at the time, my entire body was aching seriously, and my eyes were almost closing from tiredness and the need for sleep. I’ve got to say that yesterday has to be the longest I’ve been away from home at a stretch. And this also includes the day I returned from Owerri.
Anyway, I got home to learn that the pumping machine that we use to pump water in the compound had spoiled once again. And this time, the reason was clear. It was a result of the kids in the compound playing football. I’ve always been against them, telling them to take their ball into the streets, but they refused. When they played in the compound, they played with reckless abandon. They hit everything, glass windows, car doors, even the pumping machine (the part of it that’s above the ground).
When I heard this, it was as if the tiredness in me turned at once into anger, and I told them nothing would make me pay for fixing that machine. Whenever I told the kids to stop playing ball in the compound, or to even be careful, their parents did nothing, telling me to allow the kids to be kids. Now that it was ruined, they wanted all of us to contribute money to fix it. No way!
I told them that I was ready to turn my back on them all. It wasn’t above me to get someone to fetch water for me, a full truck is around N1200 or thereabout, and I can manage that for a week. So, I won’t really miss the pumping machine. I told them clearly, and I swore that I wasn’t going to change my stance.
I guess my anger at the time pushed me to say those things because if I had been in a better mood, I might have been less angry. Anyway, it’s been said. This wasn’t just a happenstance, or something that couldn’t be avoided. Everyone in the compound knows that it could have been avoided if they had just called their kids to order. They didn’t. Now, they want me to pay for their mistake. Hell no!
This is one expense I’m not going to cater to. If they refuse to fix it, that’s their business. I might be able to survive on one truck of water for a week, but they’re the ones with families and kids. They need more water each week than I do in a month. I can hold out on them longer than they can do to me. Eventually, they’ll speak among themselves and fix the pumping machine their kids ruined.
Only then would we be fine again. Until then, everyone should just getat!