Atoke’s Monday Morning Banter: Yay! I Just Got ANOTHER Mug

It’s so great to be up and running this morning. I can’t explain the exuberance but I’m embracing it completely. It’s one of those mornings when you can’t think of anything that can take you down until you step out of the house. I’m making a conscious effort to keep the buzz up and I’ll ignore any elements of bad vibes.

On my way out of the house, I made a mental note to pack some new kitchen towels for a friend who just moved into a new flat. He was setting up his house and had written me a “shopping list” from my room of party favours.  You see, one of the perks of living in Lagos is that your social diary can hardly be empty. In fact, if there’s a weekend with nothing to do, you’d have a friend who wants to drag you to some party or event.  In all these years of party attendance, I have managed to shore up an arsenal of party favours; bathroom scales, oven timers, bathrobes, face towels, kitchen towels, umbrellas, traveling bags, flip flops, mop buckets, dustbins, mugs and trays.

Can we stop for a few minutes to discuss the barrage of mugs? I mean, there’s a place for gratitude for gifts received and then there’s a place where you just want to scream “Oh! Stop! Not another mug and jotter!” I know Nigerians believe that everything is symbolic and in fact a lot of people fall over themselves to get these party favours but sometimes it is just an overkill.

So, what is the origin of these gifts?  A little keepsake for invited guests to remember they came for the event somehow morphed into a show of appreciation for attending. Somehow, it has morphed into the prize for buying aso-ebi; such that if you bought a higher grade of the aso-ebi you’d probably get a mobile foot spa and if you bought the lowest grade you’d get a printed bag with 1 pack of noodles, 1 pack of Ariel soap as well as a mug for your efforts.  In fact, the issue of party favours in exchange for aso-ebi expenditure has become so bad that it has adversely affected the cost of the fabric to be purchased. As such you’d hear party organizers justifying the sale of a fabric which originally costs N1800 at N5,000 by saying “you know we have to still buy souvenirs for the people who bought”

There are also times when the friends of the bride say they want to “do something” for the bride and as such they levy themselves to buy and print the party favours. The grade of the “something” differs according to the pocket power of the friends involved and so you find the influx of chopping boards, kitchen towels, and… MUGS!

There are some of these party favours I look forward to with glee though; kitchen lighters, bathroom scales,  and Anapuna salt. I mean, you really can’t have too much salt… ever. But goodness gracious can we chill with the mugs, 4-corner trays, handkerchiefs and those plastic hand fans? Can we just chill?

Please have a fabulous week ahead, remember to laugh because you really have one life to live. Remain strong, and don’t let any one kill your happy buzz! Oh, and don’t forget to share your party favour tales with us. What do you share at parties? What do you like getting and what do you have too much of and you’d just like to NEVER see again.

Peace, love & Cupcakes!
Toodles!