I am often baffled and perturbed by this parasitic tendency by some women who are so much into freebies.
These women want to look good, eat well and lead expensive lives, except that they do not have the means to fund the luxurious lifestyles and never strive to work or do business to generate their own income.
All they do is find a man who they can push into a corner and make sure he meets their demands, whatever the cost.
About a year ago, I nearly dug a hole for myself during a court recess, when a group of male lawyers complained about how the women they hang out with go for the most expensive wines, which, by the way, they don’t pay for.
They sit there, smiling or dancing and drain one shot after another, but never care to settle their bills when the drinking is done. It’s all left to the man or men in their company, who, according to the lawyers, opt for cheaper drinks.
The lawyers’ discussion reminded me of a similar complaint from a male friend who told me how he didn’t want to travel long distances with female colleagues because they don’t want to buy food and yet they want to eat.
He told of how, even when they get similar allowances for the trips, the women still want the men to pay for their food, and in the name of being a gentleman, the men silently suffer the burden of feeding such women.
Obviously, it is not all women who behave this way, but that parasite label did not come out of the blues. There is a good number of women out there who just love free stuff.
And with the pressures of contemporary living, such appetites for good life have reduced the value of male friends, husbands or partners to cash dispensers.
A man is only as good as the cash he dispenses or the bills he pays, otherwise they lose respect in the eyes of their partner, family and society.
Thus, the Malawi social scene is littered with numerous examples of men who are used in this manner by wives, girl friends and female friends.
Some financially struggling men are weighed down by debt because they are being forced to live in expensive houses or drive expensive cars just to fit into the class of life their women desire.
There are men who will avoid going home in the evening because they have failed to meet their wives’ demands. They will go round pubs or friends’ houses complaining, but cannot face the woman to simply tell her that they cannot afford it.
The misfortune, for me, however, is not only the existence of greedy women, but also the craziness in men of allowing the women to use and push them in such a manner.
It is not a crime for the woman to aspire for a high life; just that when she does, it is not fair to force its cost on another person’s pocket.
Let her pay for it.
