Hello Mi Neighbour | Supermarkets and lying men

Hello, mi neighbour! It was at the supermarket that I overheard a man proudly sharing an episode with his friend on how he skilfully dumped a young woman he had taken on a date. To summarise, he met this chick, and after giving her a decent talk, they went on a date. While mingling with the crowd at the party, his feeling towards her changed, and he had to find a decent way to dump her. Wow.

It so happened that at the same function, there was a female acquaintance of his who beckoned to him from a distance. While moving towards her, his date wanted to know who she was. The quick-thinking gentleman said, “Keep it down. Is mi wife, and the both of us could be in serious trouble.” For fear of getting into trouble with this man’s ‘wife’, the young date ‘tek weh’ herself. Fortunately, she had taken her mother’s advice to “always walk with your taxi fare whenever yuh going out with a man”. Okay.

Here I am at another supermarket on Constant Spring Road, St Andrew, months later, overhearing another man telling his wife on the phone that he is presently driving along the airport road and that everything is fine. Yours truly felt like butting in, but wisdom advised otherwise: Hold your horses. That man is clearly riding on a high horse, and it’s just a matter of time before “him get a buss a..” .

These two supermarket incidents may cause one to wonder about the connection between supermarket and lying men. Is there something about supermarkets that attract lying men, or is there something at the facility that evokes the lying spirits in men? Let’s do some research.

And I can hear some ladies saying that men are pathological liars. They just need to be cornered, and they will put you to shame with what is an “abomination to the Lord”: lying lips. They will even get you to apologise to them over a matter they should apologise to you for. Of course, that’s some women’s perspective on most men. Won’t argue. Guess we could have a discussion on the pathological liar one of these days.

Truth be told, though, it is very unfortunate that men have used lies to hurt so many women in the process of saving face. We should never forget, however, that the ability to lie effectively is no saving grace. The time will come when our lying lips will put us to shame. I move on.

The mental scar caused by the gentleman in the first scenario could have robbed the young woman of the desire to date another man or even build what could have been a model relationship. In the second scenario, that trusting wife could have had a heart attack if she had bumped into her husband in the supermarket while he was there telling her on the phone that he was elsewhere. Have mercy on us.

Though far-fetched, men, be careful of the condition of your mind on entering a supermarket. No one knows if a lying spirit is lurking in some corner to influence your behaviour. If you are at the checkout counter and your wife calls to ask if you are still at the supermarket because she wants you to pick up something for her, as inconvenient as it maybe, speak the truth.

Before leaving the supermarket today, won’t you pick up an item or two for a needy neighbour?

Thanks to neighbours

• The Jamaica Pegasus for act of kindness.

• Miss Jan for a kind donation.

• Everybody’s Pharmacy for faithful contribution to neighbours’ welfare.

Neighbours’ requests

• Yvette from St Catherine is in need of a mattress.

• A neighbour is asking for a stove.

• Melisa from Manchester is asking for a stroller.

• Ophelia, St Andrew, is asking for a playpen.

• Elizabeth from Manchester needs a sewing machine.

• A widow needs a stove.

To help, please call Silton Townsend @ 334-8165 or 884-3866, or deposit to acct # 351 044 276 NCB. Alternatively, send donations to HELLO NEIGHBOUR, c/o 53 Half-Way Tree Road, Kingston 10. Paypal/credit card email: zicron22@yahoo.com. Contact: helloneighbour@yahoo.com. Visit hellomineighbourja.blogspot.com. Mr Townsend exclusively manages the collections and distributions mentioned in this column and is neither an employee nor agent of The Gleaner.