Expensively economical!

Penny wise and pound foolish is what happens when you have an occasion and you prefer to trade the services of contract caterers and chefs for volunteers from your locality. You'll get your work done at no cost, why not? At least that’s the claim, but whether that free is really free is what I doubt, since nothing you make available is ever enough.

HEAR THE CHORUS ON REPLAY: “Yorkal Tuti - Lee Du Doye - Hey!! Bahna, Hamna Lima Wax - Sa Mboki Banjul Yi Forg Nyu Ouyou Si La”

And before you know it, a piece of everything you made available is couriered, of course including beef and poultry, and no scope of careful watch can stop that. As long as those black shopping bags and empty mayonnaise buckets are within spitting distance, brace your purse for a hemorrhage.

Once upon a time, my colleague hired three male chefs for her ‘Ngaynteh’ and when they were done, the food was not only more than enough and appetising, but these guys collected their pay and gave back everything they didn’t use (from onions, black and red pepper, mustard, tomato paste, jumbo etc).

Can you imagine, they used less than 20 cubes of jumbo to cook for a contingent of starving people – now tell me, how many of you have had ceremonies and got your surpluses back?

Rewind to a couple of weeks back - I gave this lady a ride. I thought she needed help with her heavily built sack. After a few chats, it appears she was coming from a wedding and the sack was containing a little bit of everything. I was like, if she got all these from where she’s coming from, I wonder if she left anything behind, because what she had was more than enough supply for a battalion - no exaggeration!

I am not trying to interfere with anybody’s hustle - fair-weather assistance is what I just can't stand. It is not unlike extortion.