This ‘syndrome’ of keeping up with the Joneses is incredibly popular in Nigeria; so many people trying to be who they are not, live the fast life and rub shoulders with the creme de la creme of society. This culture is eating deep into our society and the newer generation is learning it fast.
Recently, I ran into a couple of friends with whom I went to the university. They used to be middle class, maybe even lower middle class (if there’s anything like that) and the people I saw when we ran into each other were definitely not the same people anymore. I was happy for them and we chatted for some time about work, life, family, and school life back then of course. Till one of them showed us a picture of a so-called ‘fake’ Hermes Birkin handbag, castigating the girl who posted the picture, calling her poor and fake and comparing how much they bought their so-called ‘original’ ones to her fake one. When I heard the prices of both the original and fake, I had to ask what they carry in the bag that made it so expensive.
As if that was not enough, they were asking me to pay for the meals we ate. I opened my mouth in shock. You have that much money to buy a handbag but none to pay for your meal? I wasn’t exactly surprised as I knew both of them from back then to be ‘forming big girls’ even when they had nothing so I was sure that those bags were either borrowed or bought on credit. On thinking about the whole scenario after leaving, I wondered why people would not just cut their coat according to their size and not live in a false paradise, trying to live the ‘good life’ while raking in debts.
It’s pointless trying to act rich when you don’t have the financial luxury to back that life up. No point going broke while trying to look rich. It’s perfectly okay to buy cheap stuff and have quite a bit of money, even if it’s not exorbitant, than spending all your money and going bankrupt all in a bid to look rich. Spend your money on affordable things and invest the rest into doing things that will bring profit and don’t exhaust that little trying to keep up with the Joneses.
Article by Soomto Ajanma
