Gratitude February – Day 22
Today I’m thankful for…
A recognition I received at work for a project my team just completed.
It was a pleasant surprise, and definitely one of the highlights of my day.
What are you thankful for today?
Tag: Work
Gratitude February – Day 16
Today I’m thankful for…
My 9-5 job!
For the income and opportunities it has provided me, and for the people I’ve met along the way.
What are you thankful for today?
Sleep, dear sleep!
I love this throwback photo of myself on the bus. It reminds me of what now seems like the distant past, days when we could use public transportation without wearing masks.
Speaking of public transportation, let me tell you about the time I missed my train stop and ended up in a different city.
I take the train to work. Well, used to before covid. These days the office is anywhere with strong Wi-Fi and a picturesque background for Zoom meetings.
Anyway, it’s a fifty-four minute train ride. No, don’t picture Lagos traffic. It’s a scenic ride and serene too, if like me you choose to sit in the quiet zone on the upper level. I usually read a book halfway, and then chat with my mom if she’s online, or just catch up on the absurdity that goes on in the WhatsApp group with my friends.
On the day in question, I left the office earlier than usual because I needed to make a quick stop before getting home. I’m such a planner, and had allotted time to everything I needed to do that evening.
I read for about 30 quiet minutes, then checked to see if my mom was online. She wasn’t so I went back to my book, or so I thought. I only realized I had dozed off when I heard over the speaker ‘We have arrived at our last station, the train is no longer in service. Make sure you take all your personal belongings with you.’
I looked around me and the coach was empty. I looked through the window and the station didn’t look familiar. We were in the city after mine!
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to laugh at myself, beat myself up now that I had let sleep ruin my itinerary, or cry at the thought of having to figure out my way home from this strange city in the peak of winter. I did a bit of each.
Work Chronicles
My colleagues take their lunch break between noon and 1pm each day. I prefer to eat after 1pm, primarily because I’m not hungry by noon, but also because I enjoy the solitude of the office kitchen when everyone is through with their lunch and I don’t have to deal with small talk. It’s exhausting trying to explain to my non-Nigerian colleagues what my lunch of Moimoi and Garri is. No, there’s no English name for Moimoi. No, it’s not Beans Pudding. Pizza is Italian (some say Latin, some say Greek) and we’ve come to accept that, but I digress.
Today’s lunch is Semolina with Okra soup, complete with stock fish, crayfish and every smell that accompanies those two guys. I’m happy when I get to the kitchen and meet just 3 people finishing up their lunches. I can reheat my food without people scrunching their noses. I also have plans to do justice to those chicken bones, and would rather do so without an audience. I’m not given to waste.
I settle down to eat and the kitchen is empty, save for one guy who just walked in. There are about 20 empty seats anyway, he would definitely choose one far from me. Nope, this dude chooses the seat right across from me. I look up to see if it’s a familiar face. Never seen this dude before. Didn’t he see the other chairs? “Oh well, I’m used to the smell of stock fish. Bros you’re the one doing yourself,” I think to myself.
We eat in silence, bros munching on his mede-mede, Iember ‘cutting’ her Okra soup with all the decorum she can muster. There’s no incident till I get to the end of my meal. I’m done eating my chicken, bone untouched just like my husband eats. I think that’s wasteful, but again I digress.
I get up to leave but the chicken bone stares at me and I look back at it, as lovingly as I look at Gboko mangoes. It feels like we have unfinished business, I can’t just up and leave. I begin with the soft cartilage, it’s a noiseless process. Bros and I keep chewing in silence. I’m done with that part, but remember I told you I’m not given to waste right? I proceed to crack the bones. Wow, I’m not prepared for the loud sounds that follow. Bros looks up from his plate and clears his throat. I clear mine too, since we’re all clearing our throats around here. “Remember I told you that you’re doing yourself when you came to seat here abi?” I think to myself as I clear my plates.
Bros-0, Iember-1
iember.gavar 