At the junction directly opposite the fuel station in Obalende BRT terminal, today, I bought roasted yam from the woman there (it’s been a decade since my last). She looks in her 70s. Has an impaired sight so she strains to hear. You’d get annoyed if you’re not patient. Trust.
It took me and the other man literally screaming Yam, 200 again and again to get her to sell.
As she prepared the yam, she innocently mused about how she bought each tuber for N1200 and slices into 10. Buys charcoal, palm oil and all and people don’t get it.
I did the calculation alone. She can hardly make N50 naira on each slice of N200. I was driven to tears. When she was done with mine, I doubled the pay and this got my heart all soaked in tears. She brought both notes close to her face and checked for about 5 secs to be sure.
I stood there numb. When she was sure, she looked up to me and returned 1 note. I mentioned I knew.
God! This moment… “My son”, she began and paused for about 6 seconds. “..you no go suffer”, she continued. “Your mama no go suffer…”. I was shaking here.
At this point, I wanted to do more but was cashless. I wish I recorded but twitter ninja would say it’s for clout. How you’d have felt the appreciation on this mama’s face. 200 naira made a difference.
On the bus, a lady beside me perceived the meal and asked where I got it. I directed her but she returned without it. I asked why. She said she didn’t like it. Actually, she didn’t like that the “woman was stressing her out”. I envisaged it earlier so I teased her with it.
Now, this made me better relate with her joy. Imagine how many of those ladies she’d meet daily. Lagosians aren’t as patient as I and the other man. Typically. Imagine how much she’d sell per day.
The point is to stop commenting “there are still good people” under posts like this. Be the next good person. It doesn’t take much. As little as doubling your pay, deliberately to support someone. Pay N100 for a N50 naira good when you have it. Stop haggling back and forth when it comes to these people but happily spend lavishly at the mall.
I hope this story does not just bless you today. I hope it gets you to pay more attention to the reality of this world. You didn’t put them on the streets but helping is never bad anyway. Do it carefully and cheerfully. I can’t recover from that experience. Thanks for reading.
Copied from @Solaspeaks
