The Day I Saw a Bus Driver Burning

It was a bright afternoon at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO). Students were filing out of their classes in pairs, and moving towards their hostels in different directions. Some were on foot, others were boarding motor bikes (“Okada” in local parlance), while the rest were boarding buses to Owerri town. I also intended to board a bus to Owerri town.
FUTO has a bus park, which then was simply a piece of land covered with red sand and little rocks with no defined boundaries. There were two parts of the bus park then. One part contained the 14 or 18-seater buses (“Danfo” buses in local parlance), many of which badly needed body work and the other part contained the Imo Transport Company (ITC) buses, which were usually larger, cheaper and in worse form than the former. Students usually preferred the Danfo buses because they got filled very quickly and so saved time, even though they were N20 or N30 more expensive than the ITC buses. (ITC buses charged N40, while Danfo buses charged N60 or N70)
As I walked towards the bus park, I began hearing a male voice in a frenzied shout.
“40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ......”
I got closer and saw that it was a driver of one of the really large ITC buses, which usually get filled during the time it would take 3 or 4 Danfo buses to fill up and leave. He was a short round man, pacing about and punching the air like he was delivering an oration, wearing a black trouser and a faded green knee-length Kaftan (local Nigerian dress) which was wet from his intense sweating.
He kept shouting.
“40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ......”
At this time, there were about 5 people in his 33-seater bus.
“40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ......”
Well, none of the other students and drivers had seen such a thing before, so we all watched the spectacle before us.
I was already sitting in a Danfo bus that was gradually getting filled, but all the bus occupants were staring at the shouting driver.
“40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ......”
Other students, who were just walking into the bus park intending to enter the Danfo buses, stopped for a moment and stared at the man.
Just then, one of them walked towards his bus and climbed in. His friend looked at the loading Danfo bus in which I was sitting and back at the ITC bus. In about two seconds, he made his decision and joined the ITC bus with his friend.
Some of the yet standing students still stared at the man. We all knew what he wanted, and we knew it had never happened before. He wanted his 33-seater ITC bus to get filled before a 14-seater Danfo! We just wondered if he could pull it off.
“40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ......”
More of the standing onlookers climbed into his bus.
At this point, I was in the early stage of temptation. Should I sit in this Danfo bus and watch this burning bus driver fill his bus and leave? I needed to get to the bank, and I knew it would be closed if I wasn’t there early.
This was until two people left my bus and joined his bus. It took me less than 5 seconds to get out of my bus. As I walked towards the driver’s bus, I saw some other students who also wanted to enter the same bus break into a run. I wasted no time in breaking into mine. When I entered and looked around, there were 3 or 4 seats left. I quickly took one.

How a Brown Belt Saved My Life

On a beautiful Tuesday morning, when the wind was blowing softly and the sky was bright, my brother was all dressed and ready to go. He was on his favourite dress code – T-shirt, three-quarter shorts and loafers – but could not find his belt.
It was a brown belt I lent him a few weeks back when his belt damaged from man-handling.
So we searched. My, my, did we search. We searched the first cloth hangar thoroughly. We checked between clothes, around clothes, inside shirts and trousers, moving different clothing items in the process. It wasn’t there.
We moved to the second cloth hangar and conducted a more thorough search. Nothing.
We moved to his wardrobe. We checked between books, checked behind his folder, and even looked under the deodorants and body creams. Still nothing.
We moved to my wardrobe. Those who know me well will tell you – I love carrying load. Like seriously. As early as primary school, I always had the heaviest bag – notebooks, textbooks, pencils, food flask, crayons, pens and my water bottle – always found their space in my bag. As you might already suspect, my bags needed constant repair and regular replacement.
So, you can imagine how my wardrobe looks like. Six piles of books, different shapes of bags and folders, old shoes, electrical tools, shoe brushes, even chalks and <insert any other outrageous item>.
We began the search – and, it took an amazingly short time – and found nothing.
My brother gave up and went to do something else. I sat on the bed as started my mental routine to search for stuff.

Where last did you see it?

Hanging on the chair.

When?

In the middle of the night.

Did you touch it?

I think I remember doing so, or is my mind playing games?

So you touched it?

Maybe.....yes.

What did you do with it?

(Think, think......THINK!) I can’t remember.

I thought and thought and it occurred to me to lift up the shirt I was wearing.
There it was. I was wearing it!
I sped out of the room and called my brother. I then told him where I found it. He cracked up, laughing and laughing and laughing some more, before he put on the helmet belt and went out.
Well, I’m sure you’re at least smiling now. But as I walked back to the room, it hit me.
People spend years and years and YEARS searching for that one thing – the right business idea, the right job, the right this and that. But, for many of them, if they would be patient enough to till the ground they already have, they’ll produce the greenest pasture they can ever see. The truth is this: If the pasture over there looks greener, it’s probably getting better care.
I’m sure you must have heard the story Acres of Diamonds by Russell H. Conwell. (If you haven’t, here’s a link to it). It’s an inspiring story of Ali Hafed, an African farmer who sold his farm and left his home in  search of diamonds. The buyer of the farm found the precious diamonds Ali was searching endlessly for by merely digging with his hands in Ali's former garden. Ali ended up committing suicide, never finding the diamonds he sought. His story ended like this: “Had Ali Hafed remained at home and dug in his own cellar, or underneath his own wheat-fields, or in his own garden, instead of wretchedness, starvation, and death by suicide in a strange land, he would have had 'acres of diamonds.' For every acre of that old farm, yes, every shovelful, afterward revealed gems which since have decorated the crowns of monarchs."
Well, painful, but true. You really don’t always need to quit your job, start a new career, move to a new neighbourhood or start a new business.
Don’t get me wrong. There are certain cases where a job, a career, a business is just square peg for your round hole. In such cases, you need to get out fast. A distinguishing characteristic of such things is that you do not want to or care enough to be in the top 10% of whatever it is. Excellence in such cases is not a priority. That’s when you need to move. If it is right for you, you’ll want to excel (except of course, you’re lazy, then nothing will work).
If it is yours, then it’s yours. Keep up the patient hard work. The big break will come.
There’s an inspiring quote I heard when I listened to a tape by Earl Nightingale. It has always inspired me to work just a little bit harder. Here it is:

“Do your work. Not just your work and no more, but a little more for the lavishing sake, that little more which is worth all the rest. And if you suffer as you must, and if you doubt as you must, do your work. Put your heart into it and the sky will clear. And then out of your very doubt and suffering will come the supreme joy of life.” ~Dean Briggs

UEU

Action!

Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.

- Thomas Jefferson

Smile through the tears

It is shameful, but true that in life there are so called friends who'd rather pity you than praise you; friends who'd rather comfort you when you cry than praise you when you progress. These "friends" are always around us.

We don't need to hate them. Rather, smile. Put on your best mood when they are around you. Keep yourself joyful and upbeat, because the best revenge to those who'd rather see you down is to smile through the tears, rejoice though your heart is heavy and thereby rob them of the fulfillment they'll have when they see you cry.

Don't pity yourself. The milk is already spilled; the mistake is already made. Get yourself up and pick the pieces you have left. A beautiful life is always possible.

- UEU