‘tsinelas’
Just the other night, I was sitting on the couch—not moving an inch, doing nothing, staring at my slippers. I noticed just how torn and dirty the pair is…and how comfy I still feel wearing it.
So in between wanting to get up and heading to the store to buy a new pair and just staying there and whiling the time away, I sank deeper into the couch and held the dirty slippers in my hand…
Funny how we never seem to part with the things that we’ve gotten so used to—how keeping things for its ‘sentimental value’ always gets the better of us. As I looked closely at the filthy footwear I’m holding, I stopped and thought a while—what makes this pair so special?
I couldn’t think of reasons—except that I feel comfortable wearing the slippers that has served my feet well for months and months. The pair doesn’t even have a ‘sentimental value’ for me…I just dunno why I like keeping it still…The rationale made me smile—
I remembered having seen a local movie ages ago—where a man playing granny to Richard Gomez told him that finding love is like finding the best-fitting tsinelas—it has to be comfortable, it has to be long lasting…
That analogy struck me the first time I heard it, and more so now that I’m actually contemplating on why I’d rather stick it out with my good old tsinelas than get a nice new pair.
I realized something—I couldn’t part with that stinky old pair because I already have a ‘relationship’ with it. It has been with me for ages…it has seen me at my worst…gone through rainy and sunshiny days with me…it has walked with me through life’s little triumphs and failures…
This got me into thinking—is having a tsinelas the same as being in a relationship? First, you establish a good rapport with the pair, then you start getting comfy with it, then you develop attachment and eventually, when it wears off, you’ll find it hard parting with it?
How many of us have found the right tsinelas? How many of us have found the right love, the right relationship? Do we have to fit a thousand pairs before we find the perfect one? And once we’ve found the perfect one, how soon can we part with it once it wears off?
I’ve worn so many pairs—thongs that hurt and irritated my toes, slip-ons that were either too narrow or too wide, step-ins that got left behind when I walk. Then of course there were quite a number of pairs that served me well…different colors, different makes.
The same goes with my relationships. Been burned the way ill-fitting tsinelas have caused me blisters on my feet. Suffered scratches and bruises from long, tiring walks…and when it wore off the way a pair of tsinelas does—I sank in the deepest depth of despair, struggling to part with it—okay—maybe not the same thing happens when I part with an old pair. But then…get my point?
I held my worn-out tsinelas closer as I would an old teddy bear. Do I really have to throw it away? Just when my head was about to give an answer, my heart spoke—‘yes, but you could always keep it’. I smiled at the thought and put it down on the floor. Picked up my cellphone and rang my slippers’ alter ego—the one who has walked with me through life not just for months but for years now, the one who has gone with me in all my journeys.
When he picked up, his voice sounded like melted honey—so rich, so sweet. I gave my stinky old pair one last look and said, ‘Habi, will you buy me new tsinelas?’ I got a yes and rest my case.
I’ve found me the perfect man, who I’m hell-bent to keep forever. I’m ready to part with my old, perfect pair of tsinelas. 
