How education affects your shopping practice

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There's a research that says the more a woman is educated and enlightened, the more she shops. And the more a man is educated and enlightened, the less he shops.

This is a research based on data and properly collected facts. Even if it wasn't, I'm inclined to agree. What about you?

If you agree with the research, why do you think this is the case? Is it because the more enlightened a woman is, the more empowered she becomes, causing her spending power to increase day by day?

The more empowered a guy is, the more interested he becomes in other things, his responsibilities increase, and the less he needs to prove to people that he's a success by what he puts on.

Let’s bring it closer to home a bit, and look at our Nigerian people. Who's more invested in the aso ebi thing? The women of course. We don’t see the men going all crazy about how they’ll shop for one Aso ebi or another. Sometimes, it’s like the richer the women, the more expensive the aso ebi.

Knowing when to Speak up and when to Zip it up!

What do you do when...

You meet your friend who is currently in a relationship or courtship, and you know without an iota of doubt that should this courtship lead to marriage, there’s bound to be misery, which might or might not lead to divorce? I mean, all the red flags are waving dangerously in your face, and giving you cold shivers, but you don’t really want to say anything because you don’t feel it’s your place.

If this person was a chummy buddy of yours, whom you could share everything except toothbrush and underpants with, it would have been easier for you to speak up, like hot knife on butter. But even though this person is your very good friend, you are not close.

So you feel you are in a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t situation.

I met a lady out of the country about 3 years ago. We started talking because we needed to work together in the hair care industry. I met her in 2014 for the first time. Between 2014 and 2015 when I met her for the second time, we had grown a bit closer, and I knew she had started a relationship. Anyway, during my next visit to her, I noticed few red flags.

The worst Uber driver I ever encountered

I've had a number of experiences using Uber, mostly pleasant. I started using Uber long before they came to Nigeria, mostly because I go to some cities that have wacky transportation system, like Los Angeles, etc. The major attraction for me when traveling somewhere is how easily I can move around without having to inconvenience my host, and some cities do a poor job of providing that.

I've used Uber in Lagos Nigeria only twice. Most of my Uber trips have been in different states in US and quite uneventful

Last week, I decided to take an Uber ride from one part of Houston to the other. The first red flag was that the driver was on a 4 star rating. Any Uber rider knows that this is pretty low for Uber, and personally, this is the lowest Uber rating I've ever encountered. I heard that they allow as low as 3 star rating in Nigeria, I’m not sure though.

I made up my mind right then that I would give her a 5 star rating in order to improve the driver’s rating so the driver doesn't get kicked out of Uber services. I always give Uber drivers 5 stars though, so this wasn’t a big deal.

My ride came as planned, and the driver was an Asian female, most likely Chinese or Hong Kong, from the way she looked.

It was supposed to be a 1 hour 20 minutes trip. She picked me up and the ride was uneventful. She only asked if my house got flooded and if I was married (side eye).

Then after like 30 minutes of the trip, she said she would have to drop me along the way, and I should get another Uber ride because she doesn't have enough gas. To say I was shocked was an understatement. I felt this must be the joke of the century.

I asked if I was going to be billed for the whole trip, since my account had been debited. She said it would be just for the miles she drove. Right in the car, without allowing me to respond, she ended the trip! I decided that this lady won’t get a penny from me even if it was my last blood I had to give.

How Tropical Storm Harvey affected me personally

I was on my way to Houston when Harvey struck Houston. Before the trip, it had been hitting other towns in Texas but I didn't know Houston would be affected.

While all the news about how bad Houston was hit was flying round the world, I was either somewhere in Cairo, or up in the sky, doing my own flying.

I got to JFK, where I was supposed to be on transit to Houston and I was slammed with the bad news.

Girl, you are not going anywhere today

The storm was terrible and the airport had been closed.

It was like my own hurricane hit me. This kind of thing had never happened to me before. I'm not supposed to be in New York now. Where in the world am I going to sleep? Where am I going to get unplanned money to spend? I was devastated.

The airline wasn't going to cover for inconveniences because it wasn't on an international leg, and it fell under natural disasters. They put me on the flight for the next day.

I counted my loss and went to sort myself out. After all, it was only for one day. Right?

Wrong!!!