I had to leave Benin City to Lagos today because I had work to resume tomorrow morning. Because I had some things left to sort out in Benin at the beginning of the day, I ended up at the park in the afternoon.
The available bus to Lagos was going to Ajah directly but there were passengers around who were going to Berger/Ojota. Ajah and Berger/ojota is at two ends of Lagos and has different routes from Benin. However, they decided to merge us as we were all going to Lagos.
We got into the bus and the captain informed us that he would be dropping those at Berger and Ojota first before proceeding to Ajah. This turn of events will delay those of us going to Ajah by 2 to 3 hours due to the traffic. Therefore, arguments started as some passengers protested to the arrangement. A certain man insisted that the driver of the bus take him back to the bus terminal as he would not be following the bus again. And so, the driver turned backwards towards the terminal in Benin.
On getting to the terminal, the man who insisted that he was going to drop from the bus started claiming that the bus driver said he will not be going to Ajah. After 10 minutes of discussion with the manager of the transport line, the issue was settled and we all got back into the bus to leave for Lagos.
Now, the arguments didn’t change the fact that the driver had to pass through Berger before going to Ajah. So it made me wonder why the whole argument was necessary. We had spent over 30 mins talking over an issue when that time would have been spent on the journey.
I also thought of why the driver insisted to get to Ajah last. It could be that he intends to spend the night there with family and passing by there to come back afterwards was simply uneconomical.
We all never considered the driver’s comfort. I know he is working to serve us but doesn’t he deserve the right to get home early as we all selfishly wanted? Those dropping in Ajah wanted to get home earlier than those dropping in Berger. But at the end of the day, we all eventually get home before the one who drove us safely for over 5 hours.
I kept thinking of how much I have taken for granted people around me who work to provide me a service. Therefore I have decided to stop frequently to simply appreciate and encourage them. You should do the same too because without the driver, I probably would still be in Benin right now.
