How do you see life or better still, how do you live your life when it comes to your relationship with others? This has been a sort of problem to so many persons because they have completely forgotten that life is and does not revolve around them. I have seen people whose actions and lifestyle makes it look as though they do not need others in life meanwhile we need each other in all that we do.
This is just a way of introducing this article because the article is not necessarily going to dwell on our relationship with others rather it will dwell on how we have been able to make people develop a deeper trust in us i.e. our level of honesty. This article was inspired by an event that happened to me yesterday while I went to the market to buy some groceries. I have not been that kind of person that enjoys going to the market so each time I am needed to go to the market, I will have to take some time and condition my mind to ready myself for anything that might happen.
For those who are not from this side of our world, your idea of a market place is completely different from what we have here. Firstly, our market structure is set in a way that you will have to practically force yourself through the multitude of people who are making use of the tinny road at the same time.
This has been one of the major reasons why I don’t enjoy going to the market. Even in this era of covid19, you will still see the market place well crowded. The most annoying part is the bad condition of the road which makes it very hard for vehicular movement. As I left the house with my mind already made up to accept whatever that happens that day.
I got to the market and started picking the things I wanted. Unlike the way markets in the developed countries are structured where most likely you will see shopping malls instead of the regular market. I had to go from one angle to the other in search of the things I wanted.
As I was busy buying things I wanted, I got to a shop where I saw groundnuts of which was among the things on my list. I called on the seller to inquire how much she sales her goods and that was when the drama all began. The woman came closer to where I was standing and told me that a cup is sold at 1250 Nigerian Naira.
At first, I was kind of shocked to hear that because I remembered that I overheard her telling another buyer who was standing on the other side of her shop that a cup is sold at 700 Nigerian Naira. This got me worried and instantly I asked what the last price was, she looked at me and said; “oga na the last price be that”. I looked at her in disbelief and then as I was about to ask her to sell to me another buyer came into the shop but this time around she came towards where I was standing.
Immediately the buyer asked her how much she is selling a cup and I was very keen to hear what she would say but the woman just ignored her and acted like she did not hear what the woman asked her. That was when my instinct told me to respond to the buyer by telling her the price the woman told me. The moment I told her that the woman said that the cup of groundnut is 1250 Nigerian naira, the buyer shouted in total surprise and looked at me to sure that I was responding to her.
At this time it became obvious to me that there was something wrong because the seller was now trying to act like I was just entering her shop. This made her ask me, “oga wetin you wan buy?” I became completely confused and in my confused state, I asked what she meant by asking me what I want. I told her that I can remember that she has already told me the price she sells her groundnut and that I was even about asking her to give me 5 cups.
She looked at me and said that she has forgotten how much she told me and I had to remind her but surprisingly she said no that a cup is sold at 700 naira. At this point, I made up my mind that I was not going to buy from her and left the shop.
As I went to another shop, I asked the seller how much she sells a cup she told me that a cup is sold at 700 naira. I was moved to share my ordeal with the other seller to her. As I finished telling her what happened, this woman looked at me and said; “na God save you”. Her response made me ask her what she meant by that. She looked at me and told me that the other seller saw that I was a man so she increased the price just to rip me off.
The moment I heard her explanation, I was disappointed and I felt so bad that I almost broke down. I am that kind of person that will never sell honesty for anything at all because it is what makes us humans. I could not imagine an elderly woman having such kind of thought in her just because she saw me or because I looked like one who does not frequent the market regularly. I had to buy 10 cups instead of 5 cups.
The thing I want us to learn from this article is that we should try as much as possible to always be honest with people at all times irrespective of whom the person is or where we find ourselves. She wanted to rip me off which made her forget that tomorrow is another day and no one knows tomorrow.
I did not tell you that the other buyer that came to buy from her also left as soon she saw me leaving and she followed me to the other shop and we both bought from the same woman. The high point of the whole saga was that she lost not just my money but the woman’s money too. Guess what, the woman bought over 30 cups of groundnut. Let honesty be your watchword in all you do because that little profit you want to rip from someone might hinder you from getting the bigger one.
