The Curse Of Entitlement

Entitlement – “The belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.” In Uganda, people take entitlement seriously – almost like a way of life, the way it’s supposed to be.

The power bank and cable were on the front seat of the ride and partially covered by a carelessly thrown jacket. That day, save for I, the only other people who had been in the ride were Friend and his Girlfie. Friend sat behind me while Girlfie, took up the front passenger seat. By the time she put butt to seat, she would have noticed the jacket and I presume common sense prevailed in that she picked it up and just didn’t sit on it. She would also have noticed the power bank and cable and again, if common sense prevailed, she would put it in one of the compartments between the two seats.

But dusk had set in by then so I don’t know if she evoked common sense. Anyway, by the time I got home after dropping them at two different locations, the jacket was on the back seat of the ride but, there was no power bank or cable. The car was torn apart and no, it was not there.

This necessitated a call to Friend to ask if he had picked it up in error. No, he hadn’t. So, I called Girlfie and she had, because she had exercised the entitlement clause. The conversation went along 

these lines.

TB: “Did you pick up my power bank in error?”

Girlfie: “Yes, it’s with me. I am going upcountry to a place where power is not so stable.”

TB: “But did you ask before you took it?”

Girlfie: “I don’t see why you are getting all heated up, it’s not like you need it!”

TB: “Regardless, you just don’t take things without asking!”

Girlfie: “I still don’t really see why you are making a big issue of it!”

Malcom on the other hand, had recently returned from a work trip to South Africa. While there, he had done some shopping – especially for socks since there was some sale going on in one of the big department stores. The socks were sold in packs of ten and he bought twelve of them. Back home in Uganda, he was on an outing with Girlfie – and not a live-in girlfie I might add, when he noticed she was wearing socks that were exactly like the pack of twelve he had bought in SA. 

Getting home that evening, and going through his wardrobe, two packs were missing. Seeing he lived alone with no house help, there was only one suspect – Girlfie. And when he asked her, she too evoked the entitlement clause – “But it not like you will be walking around without socks – you still have ten packs!”

Muzee, aka Horseman or Cyclops – depending on how well you know him, is a simple man though can be ‘complicated’. When it’s time to catch, he goes in with a bang and ends on an explosion. He swings crates of Club and bottles+ of Jameson. But he swings them for his close friends – Vinta, Doc, Paulo, Julio, Kayos and TB. Invariably, once he swings, the leeches who don’t even know him slither out of the sewers, evoke the entitlement clause, pull up chairs and comfortably edge to the table with comments like: “Eh, a full muzinga and crates, let’s drink!”

And once Leech picks up the Jameson, he is never modest about his measurements. He comfortably sits back, legs akimbo with groin thrust high in the air for the world to see and pours almost half a glass like it was he who had bought the bottle. The final straw is the audacity he has to call over his own friends and pour them the Jameson he never bought!    

Pictures: adivineencounter.com, hustleoverentitlement.com, medium.com, alan-neal.com