First Gentleman with Wilson Orhiunu
Email: babawill2000@gmail.com Twitter: @Babawilly
Socrates the great Greek philosopher is famed for the phrase “know thyself”. If he was from Warri rather than Athens he might have said “Bros, know where yua power reach”.
Legend has it that Socrates took out some of his students to downtown Athens for beer and pepper soup. When the waiter was taking their orders, Plato asked for mild, Socrates said pepper-less but his other student Xenophon just had to prove he was a hard man and requested double extra hot. A hush went over the restaurant and the waiter asked again to confirm. Soon the chef came running out to reason with Xenophon who wouldn’t back down. Two spoons into his soup, Xenophon collapsed on the floor clutching his neck and that was when the great man uttered the words he is best known for. Plato scribbled the words behind the bill for posterity.
It is the duty of everyone to know their temperature; in physiological regards and otherwise. Taking off the coat when sweating avoids hyperthermia and putting on the coat when shivering keeps hypothermia at bay. The body loves to be at a boring constant temperature every hour of the week. A fever spells trouble and professional help must be sought. There are no health workers scanning the population via satellite to discover feverish people and lift them to hospital via drone to receive healthcare. There is personal responsibility in these matters. The owner of the fever or their carer must move in the direction of help.
The word hot is also used as a slang for someone who is currently “at the top of their game” and thus in demand. People who look beautiful and exude confidence are also called hot. Just like the case with a raised body temperature, it is usually the responsibility of the one who assumes they are hot to ensure that without a doubt, they are socially hot.
This self-examination for social hotness has been a problem since the world began and even Jesus admonished that when you attend a party with a high table or VIP sitting, don’t puff yourself and walk up to the high table and start taking selfies because when the real deal hot people arrive, an usher might politely whisper in your ear, “Sorry Sir, we need to readjust the sitting arrangements. Please make use of that seat over there and we will call you back when we are ready. Sorry for the inconvenience.”
This is a polite way of announcing to you that you have been downgraded from business class to economy and they would not even let you take the drink you started on the high table to your new surroundings. It is a shame when one deludes himself in the areas of personal social hotness.
People are like the world they live in. The planet has the equator which is permanently boiling and the Polar Regions blessed with all year wintery conditions. These are the extremes and socially there are people born socially hot. They have a silver spoon for each finger and toe at birth. They also have an account manager looking after their trust fund when they haven’t even perfected the art of sucking breast milk without choking. On the other hand are those born into disadvantage. They have nothing any one would admire to have and unless a miracle happens, they would never climb up the social ladder for the snakes of injustice and disadvantage await them with polished fangs, ever ready to relegate them to where they came from.
Beyond the extremes is the average majority. Just like the Earth rotates and brings seasonal variations, most people will go through the seasons of life and find themselves hot at different times in their lives till the inevitable winter comes. With experience they soon learn to be patient in winter in the full knowledge there would be another summer.
Knowing you are not hot at the moment is not the same thing as feeling untalented or having low self- esteem which are psychological flaws. You go with the flow as the seasons come in your life. In most music performances you watch, the backing musicians outperform the star on the instruments and back ground singers and dancers are so much better than the main star. That is life. The main star pays the salaries and everyone hired on stage must work to make the star look good for the audience bought the tickets to see the star who is currently hot in their estimation. With time, the seasons change and the background singers get their own opportunity to be stars.
There is nothing more embarrassing than seeing someone who cannot discern the times and seasons especially when they try by way of argument to prove why they are more deserving of ‘hotness’ compared to the one who actually is. I remember hearing someone complain that D’banj, aka Koko Master, at the height of his fame, had a limited vocal range. That may be true to an extent but like he replied in his song, ‘Mo Gbono Feli Feli’.
I am hot
You are not
People just have to live with it. Who vocal range epp? Hot people are there for our pleasure. They entertain us as we look at them. Who says the high and mighty on the high table at a party have the most fun? Sometimes they look miserable with their 20 choices of drinks placed in from of them while the guys on the cheap seats dance and laugh like there is no tomorrow. I don’t think it is wise to crave to be hot for you never know if you would cope with the intense scrutiny. You might be better in your quiet corner doing that social ‘press-up’ and developing the strength and tenacity that would keep you sane when the spot light shines on you.
So how does one live in peace when you are not socially hot? First take what the flatterers say with a pinch of salt from Athens. Know thyself.
You might be more gifted than the boss, but so what? Every gifted staff member cannot be boss at the same time. Everyone is gifted on the team but you still need a captain; just one.
We need to embrace the moment when we are not hot and enjoy being free from thousands of prying eyes. This is the best time to experiment and maybe fail without our mistakes going viral.
