Inspiration strikes you in the weirdest of places

It’s funny how sometimes, you can just be chilling, minding your own business when all of a sudden, a conversation with a complete stranger gives you quite some inspiration. I had one of those situations this past weekend.

I was at the kinyozi getting my hair done. I happen to be going bald at the tender age of my small twenties. So getting a haircut that suits the situation is quite a tricky affair. I only ever go to the same barber, Kariz, who knows the contours of my head rather intimately.

Anyway, as usual, I had waited patiently in line for him to finish up the clients he had had of me before I sat down in his chair and we got started. Our conversation ranged from the usual, football. My mentor’s team, Liverpool, seems to have completely capitulated. But from there we went on to discuss something I would never have thought he would have ever been interested in: Black History Month.

For those of you not in the know, this is what February, the shortest month of the year is about in American culture; celebrating black excellence and achievements. Actually, we started on the topic because he asked me about a certain show that he seemed genuinely interested to catch: Fargo.

I told him I don’t own a television set so I rarely watch TV shows. But he was excited for me to catch the latest season because it would be starring Chris Rock. According to Kariz, he only ever watches shows that have strong black characters and this one fits the billing.

From what he told me, each season tells a different story. This new instalment of Fargo has Chris Rock’s character, Loy Cannon is the leader of a black American gang. Basically, this gang is made up of guys running away from America’s then racist south and the Jim Crow laws. Once they have fled the racist law code states, they try to set up shop in another gang’s turf, Kansas City Mafia. From here, we are treated to watching Chris Rock and his guys try to outwit and outmanoeuvre the other gang.

I was shocked how excited Kariz seemed from all this. He was forming at the mouth explaining to me that he was tired of watching movies in which the black gangstas were all meatheads and bullet sponges. Movies that actually show a different aspect of blacks, a more cerebral side nearly made him piss his pants in excitement.

I had to keep reminding him to cut my hair and define the cut just right because he kept trying to explain the point at which he has reached on the show. As I said earlier, I do not have a telly but he was quick to tell me he had the hook up: he could help me get to watch the show without me having to shell out several tens of thousands for a new telly.

That was the inspirational part of my haircut. He put me up on game by introducing me to Showmax’s 3-for-1 offer. So apparently, Showmax, has an online movie and series library that hosts over 20,000 movies, series and documentaries. And you get all-you-can-eat buffet style access to the entire library for only KSH 380 per month. And to make that offer worth my time, Showmax has a “pay for one month and get two more months extra” offer running.

And how can I get to watch the show when I do not have a trv? Well, Showmax has an offering for me to be able to watch Fargo on a wide range of devices like my smartphone or tablet. Yes, even my Ulefone. And I can download the shows using the school’s WiFi and then go watch the shows in my dorm.

Trust that by the time I had gotten my hair done, I knew my new mission: I’m catching up to where Kariz is at on Fargo season 4 and we are going to compare notes.