Johnny K was a picture of unfath¬omable misery when I met him on Saturday.

He was seated on a crate, his hands supporting his chin in pinup picture of misery. Between his feet was a bottle of beer, which looked as if was looking for someone to drink.

When I ambled in, he looked at me and then as if I was not even there, he was once buried in his world of misery.

"What's eating you up?" I asked when I had seated on a crate opposite him.

He looked at me, his eyes flickered for a moment, but they lacked their usual lustre, the humour in him was gone. He looked like he could do with an hour's sleep.

"I think I asked a question and it's only polite that I be given a response," I said.

He looked at me again, his face devoid of life. I know Johnny K had a thing for the dramatic but this was unlike him.

He made as if to open his mouth then he shut it.

I had almost given up my attempts to make him speak when he did.

"Devaluation," he whispered.

"What?" I asked.

"I said devaluation. Are you hard of hearing?" he said in exasperation.

"I know devaluation has hit people hard, but is it enough reason to be this morose and all dramatic?" I asked.

"Well, devaluation has hit all of us but others in strange ways. Bread is up, soap is up, transport fares are up in the stratosphere, electricity rates are up, fuel is up, almost everything..." he said.

"With the exception of beer," I cut him short.

"It depends where you are drinking. Some drinking joints upped their prices even before the devaluation was an¬nounced," he countered.

"You are right, but what has that got to do with you looking like you are about to take your own life? Can you imagine what it would be like if everyone wore a long face because of the devaluation?" I said.

"My problem with devaluation," he started, "is that it has affected my life in a big way. Did you see that woman who came here a while ago, that one stand¬ing on the veranda?"

I followed the direction of his finger. He was pointing at a woman who was a regular at the joint.

"What about her?" I asked.

"Before the devaluation, that woman charged K500 for quality time. Since the devaluation, she has upped her charges to K2,000. The women at the hotel in town were at K2,000 but they have all gone up to K4,000. It's bedlam out there," he said.

"Is that all there is to your long face?" I asked.

"My friend, sex is life," he said.

Only Johnny K!