Image credit: therealchannel165

Something interesting happened while I was catching up on the second episode of the Voice Nigeria Season 2 on Monday. I had missed the first showing the previous night, no thanks to PHCN and a generator that wouldn’t budge when it was called upon. So, I was lucky to stumble on the repeat show not long after the repair man fixed the faulty machine. I settled down to watch the show and as usual there were music hopefuls who had their dreams fulfilled when one or more of the four judges turned their chair(s) – an indication that they would like to work with the contestant, while others who were unable to arouse the same gesture from them had their hopes dashed momentarily. The show had been going on well without any incident until something interesting happened. Something I knew I absolutely had to share with you.

As the commentator ran through the profile of the next two contestants to audition for the judges, a lady and a gentleman, I immediately noted that the male contestants face looked familiar. I had seen him somewhere before, I was sure. And when his name came up, it was confirmed, I had definitely had an encounter with him before, albeit virtually.

Naturally,  I became more interested in seeing how his audition would go. Soon enough, it was his turn to have his shot at fame. He sang, and sang, and sang till the end. Unfortunately, none of the judges turned their chairs in his favour. He wasn’t a bad singer, but, he didn’t do well enough to get the nod. That wasn’t the big deal; there had been a few others who didn’t get the nod too, but were gracious enough to accept their fate even though they clearly weren’t ecstatic about their inability to progress to the next round of the competition. But not this brother…

As soon it dawned on him that he hadn’t been chosen, Mr Contestant walked away. He practically walked out on the judges! He didn’t wait to get any feedback from them as is the usual routine, to get an idea of what he did wrong and what he could possibly do better next time. He left the judges in a state of confusion as he walked away from them on international TV.

As he walked into the corridor, IK, one of the hosts of the show could be seen talking to him about how he should have done better with his conduct even if he was disappointed. This contestant was hardly fazed and maintained that he was sure he sang well, and went on to question the judges’ decision not to pick him.

The camera zoomed back to the judges, and Timi Dakolo, gave a mini speech about the importance of being humble no matter how talented or knowledgeable one thought they were. It said it all for me, I hadn’t been wrong when I “unfriended” this same individual on Facebook only a few days after accepting his friend request. I had gotten my judgement of his character spot on. Now here’s what happened…

This person had sent me a friend request on Facebook. We had about two or three friends in common, and I thought his face looked familiar so I accepted. As some guys are wont to do, he chatted me up inbox and asked for my number – a request I declined because I didn’t know him well enough to release my phone number to him, and told him as much. He didn’t pressure me too much, in fact he said he understood, and I thought “This person must be reasonable” unlike some other guys who would be relentless with their request.

The following day, a Wednesday morning, my phone rang at about 6.53 am. It was this fellow calling me via Facebook messenger. I couldn’t comprehend the reason someone I hardly knew would be calling me before 7 in the morning, and during the working week for that matter. Of course, I didn’t pick the call. Later, I sent a message about not being entirely pleased about the call and wondered why he thought it was normal to call anyone at all that early in the morning.

It’s basic etiquette that it’s inappropriate to call anyone before 9 am except in the case of an emergency or based on a previous understanding with the other party. Every right thinking adult should know this.

Well, the mister replied with something along the lines of how I had an attitude, and how it’s a small world and how it would cost me nothing to be nice to him. I was taken aback. I never insulted the fellow, I had been civil and even forthcoming in answering some questions he posed during our first and only conversation before then. Yet, he thought I had an attitude because I mentioned that it was wrong to call at such an odd time.

I was tempted to take him off my friends list immediately, but decided otherwise and went about my business. Until I saw a post on Facebook about how some girls ought to be careful not to be carried away by their looks today, citing the case of Kechi, the young lady who survived the Sosoliso plane crash, and the huge contrast between what she looked like before and after the accident. And that was when I knew this was one “friend” I didn’t need, even in a virtual space.

And so, you can imagine what my reaction was when I watched his mini tantrum on TV. It confirmed to me that I had been a good judge of his character, and had made no mistake in severing any semblance of friendship ties with him.

Character is something that cannot be hidden, and this fellow displayed their character on a far bigger stage and in the view of millions of people. Now, while no human is Lord over another’s life and level of attainment, it’s hard to imagine any producer or record label wanting to work with anyone who has that kind of attitude. No one likes to be rejected, but rejection is part of life.

It was also interesting to note that this person was the oldest of all the contestants, he is in his late thirties, and one would have thought he’d display more maturity than the mostly 20 to 25 year-olds that form a majority in the competition so far.

Need I expound on the lessons to be learned from my little story?