THE SHOWROOM

Anytime that you walk into a vehicle showroom, you will find all the cars meticulously polished and looking like they were just made. Not even a speck of dust can be found on these cars’ surface. Of course they have to look like this to attract buyers. Ke gore go ngoka bareki. No one wants to buy a car that is not in its best look ever because it seems unfinished and you would be burdened with cleaning it. So, the cars in the showroom look good to attract potential owners. That is a fair assessment. One thing for sure is that with regular use, the cars are sure to get dirty and even with the weekly wash they will never quite look like the way they did in the showroom unless great money is spent to clean them to that extent, otherwise we can all happily live with a slightly dusty car as long as it is ours.

I suppose it is the same with people. You always look your best when you are most broke or when you are single. I am particularly interested in the latter. Whenever you get dumped, you go through a few stages, from denial, to weeping all day and finally to launching a revenge on your ex by bettering yourself. There are many ways to better yourself but updating your look is the easiest and most immediate. Ke nnete le wena o a itse. Suddenly you look sexier, cleaner and even slimmer than you have in a while so as to attract a new partner. That is okay, in fact it is expected, ke mang yo o ta a go tsayang o le matshila?

That said, once you find your partner, you somewhat relax a little if not a lot. You allow yourself to slack a little and look a little ‘dusty’ and your partner is happy with that as long as you are theirs. Gape le wena you are not trying to attract anyone else; wrong maybe, but it is true. In fact if your partner starts asking why you do not look prim as when you met, you retaliate angrily with, “e le gore ke kgabela mang o le teng?” which then escalates into an issue hardly worth the time and energy.

And then there are those who even after meeting their partners still look like they are ready for the showroom. I do not know what some might want to call this or maybe ke gore nna ke lesutha, mme hela ba ba tswelelang ba kgaba go re go e ntha e le nngwe ba a mpelaetsa. It says they are still looking; they are still in the showroom. You know that when you are selling your car, you will ensure that it looks as best as it can to attract buyers. Same as a lover who still looks showroom worthy, they are simply ready and waiting to be “bought”. So, assess your lover. Are they overly and uncomfortably clean and prim or are they just clean enough for you. Kana ke raya ba ba yang go reka borotho ba apere sutu! Okay, that is a little extreme, but you get what I mean, the girls who will not leave the house without 400kg of makeup on their faces despite the fact that you know every pimple on her face. That is a showroom!