By Rehema Zuberi
There is a life we all dream of. We see ourselves in big houses and even bigger cars. We envision our spouses to be the best looking people on earth. Our walls are white. The sandy beaches we visit for vacation are whiter.
Every little thing is a spick-and-span. Even the children behave like little adults. No mucus from their noses like the ones we are used to seeing. It is perfect. We all like being perfect. It is allowed to be ambitious.
There was an announcement earlier this year on the French government wanting to employ several young people to teach French. Or whichever government made this call. It was a great opportunity which I am pretty sure every young person who is French conversant grabbed.
We “cool” people who were taking languages in high school, knew each other. So much so that I knew several of these French mates who might have applied for this opportunity. You can imagine my joy when one of my friends, I am trying to avoid this title for them because they disgrace me, posted they were Paris bound!
It started with the view of the airport. I have known them to be shy so it was no surprise when I didn’t see them in the photo. Later on, they added a picture of the flight as people were boarding. I couldn’t contain my excitement any longer. I decided to swipe up and reply by wishing them all the best in their new endeavours.
They send a laughing emoji five minute later to inform me that they are actually in school. They go ahead to add “No Paris”. I took a day off her chat, trying to figure out things. How many more fools had she made of us as she was seeking attention? There was clearly no other explanation for such mediocrity.
The next day, I duly informed her that I was not pleased with her pretension and if it was everything else, it was definitely not funny. She left me hanging. No apology, no nothing. She expected me to sweep it under the rug. After all it is no big deal, right?
It is a BIG deal. Perhaps someone who had an opportunity in mind for her will take it that she got better. I am not wishing bad luck on her but she needs to learn a lesson. She needs to learn to tell an honest story.
Or maybe, no one will take it as seriously as I did because they know her? It hurts me that one can decide to sit down and take us through a trip of success they will not even be undertaking! What’s next? A French man? A white baby?
I am glad I rarely view people’s Whatsapp statuses, Facebook and Instagram stories. I can’t imagine the lies upon lies I would be accumulating on a basis.
There are more ways to get people’s attention, really. We, young people, want to skip all the stages of a success story and enjoy the fruits without putting in work. It does not work that way.
