Don't feel guilty spending ON YOUR WOMAN

There was a lot of hullabaloo prior to Valentine’s Day when Villa Rosa Kempinski Hotel in Nairobi advertised a Valentine’s Day package going for Kshs 2.4 million. Billed as “A Night of Diamonds,” the hotel had promised the couple a butler, a private chef, a dinner serenade and champagne, on top of 40 bouquets of roses. The couple would also have special massage, private Jacuzzi and designer diamond jewellery. All this in the presidential suite! Or you could choose to have the mini-package of Ksh1.4 million.

Many people heard about this advertisement and hell broke loose. “That’s extravagant… How many poor children can Ksh 2.4 million feed?” “No, people should donate that money to the needy”, “Ksh 2.4 million? That can buy medicine for a village dispensary, those rich people should stop such wastage…” while others wrote: “For just one night? Give me the money to build a house with and buy a Probox…” And, “Those are thieves spending taxpayers money… hiyo siyo salary”… and on and on the comments flowed on radio, newspapers and social media.

But it appears those “rich, insensitive, wasteful and corrupt” lovers didn’t listen to wise counsel. They actually spent those millions at Villa Rosa!

What’s wrong with such people? Nothing! All their faculties are intact and life goes on for them. For one, these people were spending their money… not yours; and they were celebrating love the best way they could, just like you. You see; there can be no agreement about what amount is too much to spend on a loved one. Go with just one bouquet of flowers to meet a woman in a slum and people will wonder why you couldn’t just buy maize flour with that money for her family. Spend Ksh 3,000 on a meal and someone will make you feel guilty for spending on a dinner what another person makes in a month.

Truth be told, only those of us who are not millionaires thought spending Kshs 2.4 million on one night was extravagant. After all, you would need to take a SACCO loan to get half that amount. But to the millionaire, spending that amount would be no different from you spending whatever amount you felt comfortable spending on Valentine’s Day.

So, would I spend Kshs 2.4 million on my wife for just one night? I would if I could. And that’s even too little: The day I become a millionaire, I will take her to a more expensive resort on a chartered plane outside the country, lavish her so much so that the bill will read like a CDF end-year financial statement. She is my wife, my best friend, the mother of my lovely daughters and my confidant. Anything I can spend on her I will. We did not go to Kempinski this time only because I could not afford it, but I gave her what that Kempisnki fellow would have given his lover were he in my place today.

What about the needy? Why couldn’t we have spent a day at an orphanage with destitute children? I repeat what Jesus said to His disciples when they complained that Magdalene was wasting precious oil cleaning Jesus’ feet; oil that could be sold and money used to feed the poor. “The poor will always be with you,” he told them. Today I can feed the poor, I can clothe the naked, I can visit the sick, but Valentine’s Day comes once a year.

So what is my point here, brothers? Simply put, don’t allow those “voices of reason” to stop you from showing love to your woman the best way you can. If you can afford Ksh 2.4 million for a special night with her, jump to the occasion; if you are still ‘building yourself’ and you can only afford Ksh 10,000, spend it all on her. If you depend on wages and all you can spare for your woman is Ksh 2,000, spend it like there is no tomorrow. Feeding the destitute should never come between you and your wife, and not even your children.

Caution though! Don’t spend such amounts on a passing cloud. Spending any amount should be with a woman who means the world to you; to whom your future is tied to, and if she is a girl you are trying to impress with hopes of winning her over for a future together, splash the cash, if she still says no after chopping all your money, you will at least be glad you tried, and you will also be wiser.

So brothers, that dress your wife fancies and which goes for Kshs 10,000 is not expensive; that Kshs 5,000 cologne is not expensive either; not even the pink Vitz: if you can afford it, let her have these things. She will then be more comfortable accompanying you to a home for the less fortunate to cloth the poor. And you will experience the joy of walking besides a beautiful, well-dressed woman. All humanity will call you blessed.