I GOT myself into a mortifying situation recently in which I have only myself to blame.

Frankly, it doesn’t say much about my “well-honed” skills in journalism.

As any journalist worth his or her salt would own a voice recorder, I headed to Lucky Plaza to try and get one at an affordable price.

Not wanting to cause a dent in my meagre savings, I went from store to store with an assumed air of expertise, asking about prices and specifications of each model.

I settled on the cheapest – one which went for $80, sold by a young salesman sporting coloured contact lenses, a mop of floppy hair and a Japanese accent.

I regretted my purchase almost immediately, as I watched him fiddle awkwardly with the device, dropping the adaptor and stuffing everything into a box with nonchalant sloppiness.

As if to rub salt into my wound, his reply, when asked about how conversations over a telephone could be recorded, was: “I don’t know, you can read everything in the manual.”

After I’d walked out and inspected my purchase closely, my less-than-tactful companion quipped: “Hey, maybe he bought it from Cash Converters for $30 and sold it at a higher price here!”

It was a blow to my ego as I realised, to my consternation, that he could be right.

The box was in a bad state, with its corners torn. The plastic wrapping around the telephone cord had been ripped open. Accessories that were supposed to be in the box, such as batteries and a hand strap, were nowhere to be found.

You’ve made your own bed and now you must lie in it, some of you might snigger and say.

Strangely, after wallowing in a bout of self-pity, I realised that the careless purchase reminded me a tad of love.

Some of us leap into relationships impulsively, with a false sense of superiority, and often with our eyes closed.

In our hastymoments, we forget that relationships – like shopping – take time, honed patience, and perceptive skills for you to know when you have a good deal, or when you’d better put a brake on the relationship so you can get out unscathed.

What does one do then, when our apparent lack of discretion leads us to get together with someone who is not at all the person we want or envisioned to be?

Aside from pangs of regret and pain, and apart from wondering what could have been, I believe in letting go and living with our decision, instead of being riddled with doubts and frustration, which will harm any budding relationship.

And, after the initial heartache, we’ll realise that the few and small flaws we see – the ones that seemingly mar what we have – are not really that important in the long run.

After all, we did choose to be with them for a reason.

As for my purchase, if there is any lesson which I’ve learnt this year, it is to shop wisely and patiently, and that getting things on the cheap often comes at a price.

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