I still went to the market on Christmas day

MERRY CHRISTMAS BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE I wish you all the joys and happiness that the spirits of Christmas brings. God be with you all now and for always.

So, today, I once again went to the market in the morning to get some more grocery that we would be needing for the Christmas and new year celebration. We had already stock up some days before. But you know how it is always. There would be some other item that you couldn't buy, probably because you forgot to include them in your budget initially. It might also be that you thought they weren't very urgent at the moment, only for you to get home and discover that you would be needing them sooner than you had thought. It could also be that you didnt have enough money to buy at the time to buy everything at once.

Honestly, I dislike going back to the market again a day before, talk more of on Christmas day. The crowd at the market would be so thick that if you throw a hand full of sand towards the sky, it wouldn't be able to find its way back to the earth due to the mammoth crowd. When viewed from above, the scene of the market could be very similar to that of migratory ants. The only difference is the direction as people in the market are always moving in different direction while ants thronged on on way. It would be almost impossible for you to turn back when you suddenly remmembered an item you had forgotten to buy as the crowd at the back would be urging those at the front forward. The person immediately behind would hiss and groan so hard that you might think he/she would swallow you. The sweats of others might also rub off on your body,this i find very nauseating.

You also have to take calculated steps when walking amongst such crowd. But no matter how careful you are, you would sometimes step on others feet and others would always step on yours too. What was worse is that I wore a flowing garment and by the time I arrived home the edges of the garment was covered in mud and dusts.

Twice, I had an unpleasant experience in such a crowd where my phone and purse was lifted off me. So, I couldn't take any chance with the kind of crowd I was in now. After I had bought all I had came for. I hid my phone under my headwarmer and I hid the rest of my money in the space between my socks and my leg.

It took quite a long time before I could get a bus, since it was a busy day, most of the buses coming were already filled with passengers. I joined the group of people waiting to get a transport on the kerb by the mainroad . Whenever a bus was sighted from a distance, everyone would be at alert and some would start running towards it before it could stop. Some never stopped as they were filled up already. So, I had a hard time waiting.. After waiting for another forty minutes, I was able to secure a bus going my way.

My companions beside me were two elderly women. I greeted them warmly but they replied absentmindedly. I couldn't blame them as they were obviously in the middle of an interesting discussion before I interrupted them. After I had balanced my market bags containing the items I bought in a more comfortable position. I heaved a huge sigh of relieve due to the exhaustion of the morning and the bus swing into motion again.

At this point, i brought my smartphone from under my hat. I was about checking my notifications when I realized that the conversation of the two elderly women sitting beside me was quite interesting.

The darker woman was complaining bitterly to her companion that her only daughter who was schooling in the state's university didnt come home for Christmas. Her daughter had informed her mother that rather than returning home, she would take advantage of the holiday to cover up as much as she could on her own in her studies as her course was a very ddifficult one and her lecturers were stressful.

The old woman was furious that her daughter had sacrificed the Christmas celebration for her studies instead of coming home. Her daughter had already been in school for more than five months and had not visited home even once during the five months. The woman further complained that she was very worried about the way her daughter only focuses on her education and neglects her social life.

According to her, the last time she saw her daughter, she was looking older as a result of the too much stress from studies. At this point, I was tempted to ask her what course her daughter was studying in the university, but decided to mind my business. I said to myself, maybe her daughter was the type who was obsessed with graduating with first class honors. The elderly woman continued to talk, she doubted weather her daughter was in a serious relationship and she expressed her disappointment to her companion. She thought that it would be very beautiful if her daughter got married the following year after completing her education. She wanted to see as many grandchildren as she can before leaving this world. At this statement, I couldn't help laughing out loud.

The woman saw my laughter and looked at me with interest. She temporarily ignored her companion and started talking to me directly. She rightly guessed that I was a student who like others came back home for the Christmas holidays. I finally asked her about the course her daughter was studying that warranted her to miss Christmas at home. She told me her daughter was a student of accountancy and I liked that.

We continued to discuss for the remaining part of the journey, the woman was obviously dominating the conversation and I allowed her since she was much more older. She was actually of the opinion that a woman should not take her studies so serious like the way her daughter does. A man should do that instead. After all, its not as if she would be guaranteed a job immediately after she completed her education, judging with the present economic situation of the country. It was more important to her that her daughter gets married immediately after school. According to her, no matter the level of education a female attains, she wouldn't be complete without a husband. She should still be under a man. I almost laughed again, but I controlled it. Maybe if I had laughed at this , old woman might get angry at me. . ..The poor old woman was very bothered that after school, her daughter might not be able to secure a job and a husband immediately.

I finally arrived at my destination. After bidding farewell to the old lady, I rushed inside to prepare a meal before the Christmas guests start trooping in

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Thanks a lot for reading.

Still wishing you a merry Christmas 💗💗💗💗