Today was a very eventful day. I went to Ikoyi to process some documents with an organization. After everything went down successfully, I boarded a bike from the place to Obalende, then a car to Oshodi from where I’ll take a tricycle to 7&8 park and then another tricycle to Canoe. Yeah, long and stressful journey. Welcome to Lagos. I was trying to save money, if not, an Uber would have been ideal.
Anyway, what I’m writing about happened at Oshodi. The car stopped us at Oshodi Saleh. I had to cross the very busy road, and trek down to the place from where I’ll get a tricycle to 7&8. My story happened along the road.
Oshodi is very notable for hundreds of people selling lots of different products along the road where people pass. I’m sure they’ll all be making loads of sales and profits. Why wouldn’t they? I estimate an average of 50, 000 people tread that same road every day. It should definitely be more than that, as Oshodi bus stop is one of the most popular bus stops in Lagos.
I was walking by while admiring the traders and their wares until I was walking towards a man. I’ll guess his age to be early 60’s or at best late 50’s. He probably was less than that, but you know what staying long hours in the harsh weather, plus other factors can cause to an individual’s age.
As I was walking, I was busy admiring the traders’ wares, and when I reached his turn, I started looking at, and admiring his belts. His gaze caught mine, and I guess he noticed that I was looking at his belts. This was when his eyes lit up.
He started walking towards me with full speed, showing me his wares with much enthusiasm.
‘I’m not interested’, I responded. ‘I don’t want to buy’. ‘Don’t worry sir’.
He didn’t budge.
‘Bros, abeg, just check out these belts’. He folded and squeezed the belts over and over, then he bit it so hard with his teeth that I was almost scared his teeth would fall off.
I was still walking briskly and he was following me energetically as well.
I didn’t want to stress this old man further, so, I stopped walking, then in order not to offend him, I started telling him politely, that I don’t really need a new belt.
‘Oga, I nor need new belt’. I responded nicely, with a smile. ‘Abeg, no worry sir’.
He didn’t even mind what I was saying. He gave me one of the belt to hold, a black belt, while he brought another one, a brown one, and gave me to hold still. Total number of belts he had with him was like 6 or 7.
I was now holding two belts that I didn’t really want, and they weren’t top quality belts. They were just, you know, normal local belts that everyone knows will wear and tear within a month.
He insisted. ‘Brother, abeg, I never sell anything since morning’. Abeg buy from me, abeg.
My restrictions and constraints were gradually melting, not because I suddenly needed a belt, but because the old man was so desperate to make a sale, and I didn’t need a seer to help me figure out why.
Economy is bad. Things are hard. Unemployment is through the roof. Money is difficult to make and the situation in the country isn’t helping matters.
I was sad and worried for him.
He probably has a family. Kids to feed. A wife and a home. Bills to pay and others.
People that age should be in retirement, with a relatively stress-free life, but here he is, probably since morning, like he said, in the hot sun, trying to sell belts to some people who wouldn’t even look at him twice.
I wasn’t financially buoyant per se, but I felt for this man. I know I naturally have a soft heart, but I also know that I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t buy a belt from this man.
And for how much.
After much, I finally asked ‘Oya, oga, how much be the belt?’ ‘The black one’. I wanted to break him with price in order to save my very limited resources.
I went ahead and tried testing the belt. I wound it round my waist and told him. ‘Oga, you see, this belt no even go round me well’. ‘I nor like am, abeg’. I wanted to discourage him and make him let me be.
He didn’t budge or feel disappointed one bit.
‘Ah, ah, bros’. ‘Na old men dey wear belt wey dey go them round like that nah’. ‘Young guys dey wear belt wey nor dey too long and wey dey reach them for here (as he motioned on the place on his waist where ‘young guys’ belts reach them)’.
No need. I didn’t want to haggle further.
If you know me personally, you’ll understand that I’m quite a haggler. After an episode of a man selling me an electronic wrist watch when I was very young, for more than three times the actual price, I swore never again to be cheated in the market.
This man’s case was different actually. Or was it.
The man responding to my question for the price: ‘Oya, bring N600’.
‘Haba, oga, noo’. ‘I nor get N600’
‘Oya, bring N500’
‘No, I nor get N500’. ‘You nor go sell N300?’ I replied as I tried walking away.
He felt sad and I instantly stopped walking.
‘Bros, nobody go sell you this kind belt for N300?’ ‘Abeg, help me, I neva sell any market since morning’. ‘Oya, pay N350’.
‘Oga, na only N300 I fit pay’. I said with a sense of conclusion.
I turned my back and started to walk away. His enthusiastic shoulders dropped like a sack, and he also turned, slowly, while looking at his belts in his hand.
That was it. My heart melted like a candle wax. If I had the money, I would have bought all his belts at that moment.
I had to stop and say. ‘Oya sir, bring am’
He lit up once again.
‘Wait make I fold am for you?’, he said happily.
I waited and he folded the belt.
I paid him with N500. ‘You get N50?’, he asked.
‘Yes, I get’. I replied as I gave him the N50 while he gave me N200 change.
I put the perfectly folded belt in my bag and walked away. I was finally at peace.
What is N350, or even the N600 he initially mentioned compared to this peace I felt. Nothing. Hell, I could pay N5, 000 if I had the means, to feel what I felt in that moment.
Everything took less than five minutes, but I learned lessons that would last me a lifetime. If I had remembered, I would have taken a selfie with him. Maybe I would, when I see him next. Lol.
WHAT’D I LEARN?
As a salesman, don’t every give up on your clients. A ‘no’ today might mean a ‘maybe’ tomorrow, and a likely ‘yes’ the next day. As a sales-person, don’t give up. As a marketer, don’t give up. As an individual, don’t give up. Stick with it till you achieve your goal.
Put your heart to your business. I saw the enthusiasm in this man even as aged as he was. I couldn’t resist. I had to buy one of his belts.
Honesty in business. I’m not assuming that this man was entirely honest when he said he hadn’t made a sale since morning. Maybe he had, maybe he hadn’t. Who am I to judge him. His demeanor, however, as I was interacting with him looked like he really needed to make more sales, and more money today. He looked and sounded like he hadn’t made any sale in hours. It was getting late and the day was about ending. I had to buy something from him seeing his age and his desperation.
Be compassionate. Buy from people who work hard because they don’t want to beg. We have a lot of beggars today. Begging is now a corporate profession. There are professionals in the field now, both the ones that threaten you and extort your money, to the ones that profess fake love to you and suck you dry. We spend our money on lots of professional beggars. Few of us even consider to give a little money to the real helpless and handicapped beggars with real social, economic and health problems, some of them with tumors and disabilities. We see these people daily on the streets.
Here was this man. He wasn’t a beggar. He was working hard. He wasn’t cheating, threatening or robbing anyone. He was sweating for his money. He wasn’t depending on the gullibility of people to add any extra wealth to his overflowing coffers. There were no overflowing coffers. He was a poor trader without an ordinary shop, I guess, looking to make ends meet for himself and his family. He was an honest and hardworking man.
I don’t know about his habits, his family or his upbringing. I don’t want to play the blame game. I reacted to what I saw. Lots of things happen because of lots of reasons. There’s no predicting the outcome of life. Who am I to blame or to judge?
If you can, buy goods and services from people that work hard. Sometimes, you may not really need the product, but just because you are compassionate and you want to encourage this person, buy his goods. Encourage hard work.
Today, we see a lot of children and young people hawking products on the streets. They do this to assist their parents pay their bills and feed them at home. Buy a sachet water from that kid. Buy a tied groundnut from that little boy. Buy roasted corn from that young lady. She knows what her mates are doing to make money, yet she’s humbling herself to work with uprightness and honor. Buy one of her commodities.
Buy a piece of sweet, a biscuit, a loaf of bread, or bottled water from that young man on the express road. He risks his life daily running after buses and cars on the road. He knows what his mates are doing to make money, yet he’s humbling himself making his peanuts to help himself and his family.
Give to beggars too. There are people who are less-privileged in the society. Help them as you can. Take some of that money that you blow on irrelevant things. Take some of that money that you give away to people that threaten you every week. Take it and give to a beggar. Someone who actually needs it. Someone who would use it to feed her hungry child. Someone who would use the money to undergo an important surgery.
Be a giver. Be filled with love and compassion for the society.
Be grateful. Always be grateful for whatever you’ve got at any given time. People out there are suffering with way less, and would exchange places with you in a heartbeat. Be grateful for what you have while you keep working to get more.
That’s it guys. That’s how I bought a belt from an old man at Oshodi today.
Well, It’s 12:44 a.m. so that was yesterday.
Have to take some zzzzzs.
Catch ya.
P.S. I had to take pictures of the belt with the way the man folded it. Lol.
Anyway, what I’m writing about happened at Oshodi. The car stopped us at Oshodi Saleh. I had to cross the very busy road, and trek down to the place from where I’ll get a tricycle to 7&8. My story happened along the road.
Oshodi is very notable for hundreds of people selling lots of different products along the road where people pass. I’m sure they’ll all be making loads of sales and profits. Why wouldn’t they? I estimate an average of 50, 000 people tread that same road every day. It should definitely be more than that, as Oshodi bus stop is one of the most popular bus stops in Lagos.
I was walking by while admiring the traders and their wares until I was walking towards a man. I’ll guess his age to be early 60’s or at best late 50’s. He probably was less than that, but you know what staying long hours in the harsh weather, plus other factors can cause to an individual’s age.
As I was walking, I was busy admiring the traders’ wares, and when I reached his turn, I started looking at, and admiring his belts. His gaze caught mine, and I guess he noticed that I was looking at his belts. This was when his eyes lit up.
He started walking towards me with full speed, showing me his wares with much enthusiasm.
‘I’m not interested’, I responded. ‘I don’t want to buy’. ‘Don’t worry sir’.
He didn’t budge.
‘Bros, abeg, just check out these belts’. He folded and squeezed the belts over and over, then he bit it so hard with his teeth that I was almost scared his teeth would fall off.
I was still walking briskly and he was following me energetically as well.
I didn’t want to stress this old man further, so, I stopped walking, then in order not to offend him, I started telling him politely, that I don’t really need a new belt.
‘Oga, I nor need new belt’. I responded nicely, with a smile. ‘Abeg, no worry sir’.
He didn’t even mind what I was saying. He gave me one of the belt to hold, a black belt, while he brought another one, a brown one, and gave me to hold still. Total number of belts he had with him was like 6 or 7.
I was now holding two belts that I didn’t really want, and they weren’t top quality belts. They were just, you know, normal local belts that everyone knows will wear and tear within a month.
He insisted. ‘Brother, abeg, I never sell anything since morning’. Abeg buy from me, abeg.
My restrictions and constraints were gradually melting, not because I suddenly needed a belt, but because the old man was so desperate to make a sale, and I didn’t need a seer to help me figure out why.
Economy is bad. Things are hard. Unemployment is through the roof. Money is difficult to make and the situation in the country isn’t helping matters.
I was sad and worried for him.
He probably has a family. Kids to feed. A wife and a home. Bills to pay and others.
People that age should be in retirement, with a relatively stress-free life, but here he is, probably since morning, like he said, in the hot sun, trying to sell belts to some people who wouldn’t even look at him twice.
I wasn’t financially buoyant per se, but I felt for this man. I know I naturally have a soft heart, but I also know that I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t buy a belt from this man.
And for how much.
After much, I finally asked ‘Oya, oga, how much be the belt?’ ‘The black one’. I wanted to break him with price in order to save my very limited resources.
I went ahead and tried testing the belt. I wound it round my waist and told him. ‘Oga, you see, this belt no even go round me well’. ‘I nor like am, abeg’. I wanted to discourage him and make him let me be.
He didn’t budge or feel disappointed one bit.
‘Ah, ah, bros’. ‘Na old men dey wear belt wey dey go them round like that nah’. ‘Young guys dey wear belt wey nor dey too long and wey dey reach them for here (as he motioned on the place on his waist where ‘young guys’ belts reach them)’.
No need. I didn’t want to haggle further.
If you know me personally, you’ll understand that I’m quite a haggler. After an episode of a man selling me an electronic wrist watch when I was very young, for more than three times the actual price, I swore never again to be cheated in the market.
This man’s case was different actually. Or was it.
The man responding to my question for the price: ‘Oya, bring N600’.
‘Haba, oga, noo’. ‘I nor get N600’
‘Oya, bring N500’
‘No, I nor get N500’. ‘You nor go sell N300?’ I replied as I tried walking away.
He felt sad and I instantly stopped walking.
‘Bros, nobody go sell you this kind belt for N300?’ ‘Abeg, help me, I neva sell any market since morning’. ‘Oya, pay N350’.
‘Oga, na only N300 I fit pay’. I said with a sense of conclusion.
I turned my back and started to walk away. His enthusiastic shoulders dropped like a sack, and he also turned, slowly, while looking at his belts in his hand.
That was it. My heart melted like a candle wax. If I had the money, I would have bought all his belts at that moment.
I had to stop and say. ‘Oya sir, bring am’
He lit up once again.
‘Wait make I fold am for you?’, he said happily.
I waited and he folded the belt.
I paid him with N500. ‘You get N50?’, he asked.
‘Yes, I get’. I replied as I gave him the N50 while he gave me N200 change.
I put the perfectly folded belt in my bag and walked away. I was finally at peace.
What is N350, or even the N600 he initially mentioned compared to this peace I felt. Nothing. Hell, I could pay N5, 000 if I had the means, to feel what I felt in that moment.
Everything took less than five minutes, but I learned lessons that would last me a lifetime. If I had remembered, I would have taken a selfie with him. Maybe I would, when I see him next. Lol.
WHAT’D I LEARN?
As a salesman, don’t every give up on your clients. A ‘no’ today might mean a ‘maybe’ tomorrow, and a likely ‘yes’ the next day. As a sales-person, don’t give up. As a marketer, don’t give up. As an individual, don’t give up. Stick with it till you achieve your goal.
Put your heart to your business. I saw the enthusiasm in this man even as aged as he was. I couldn’t resist. I had to buy one of his belts.
Honesty in business. I’m not assuming that this man was entirely honest when he said he hadn’t made a sale since morning. Maybe he had, maybe he hadn’t. Who am I to judge him. His demeanor, however, as I was interacting with him looked like he really needed to make more sales, and more money today. He looked and sounded like he hadn’t made any sale in hours. It was getting late and the day was about ending. I had to buy something from him seeing his age and his desperation.
Be compassionate. Buy from people who work hard because they don’t want to beg. We have a lot of beggars today. Begging is now a corporate profession. There are professionals in the field now, both the ones that threaten you and extort your money, to the ones that profess fake love to you and suck you dry. We spend our money on lots of professional beggars. Few of us even consider to give a little money to the real helpless and handicapped beggars with real social, economic and health problems, some of them with tumors and disabilities. We see these people daily on the streets.
Here was this man. He wasn’t a beggar. He was working hard. He wasn’t cheating, threatening or robbing anyone. He was sweating for his money. He wasn’t depending on the gullibility of people to add any extra wealth to his overflowing coffers. There were no overflowing coffers. He was a poor trader without an ordinary shop, I guess, looking to make ends meet for himself and his family. He was an honest and hardworking man.
I don’t know about his habits, his family or his upbringing. I don’t want to play the blame game. I reacted to what I saw. Lots of things happen because of lots of reasons. There’s no predicting the outcome of life. Who am I to blame or to judge?
If you can, buy goods and services from people that work hard. Sometimes, you may not really need the product, but just because you are compassionate and you want to encourage this person, buy his goods. Encourage hard work.
Today, we see a lot of children and young people hawking products on the streets. They do this to assist their parents pay their bills and feed them at home. Buy a sachet water from that kid. Buy a tied groundnut from that little boy. Buy roasted corn from that young lady. She knows what her mates are doing to make money, yet she’s humbling herself to work with uprightness and honor. Buy one of her commodities.
Buy a piece of sweet, a biscuit, a loaf of bread, or bottled water from that young man on the express road. He risks his life daily running after buses and cars on the road. He knows what his mates are doing to make money, yet he’s humbling himself making his peanuts to help himself and his family.
Give to beggars too. There are people who are less-privileged in the society. Help them as you can. Take some of that money that you blow on irrelevant things. Take some of that money that you give away to people that threaten you every week. Take it and give to a beggar. Someone who actually needs it. Someone who would use it to feed her hungry child. Someone who would use the money to undergo an important surgery.
Be a giver. Be filled with love and compassion for the society.
Be grateful. Always be grateful for whatever you’ve got at any given time. People out there are suffering with way less, and would exchange places with you in a heartbeat. Be grateful for what you have while you keep working to get more.
That’s it guys. That’s how I bought a belt from an old man at Oshodi today.
Well, It’s 12:44 a.m. so that was yesterday.
Have to take some zzzzzs.
Catch ya.
P.S. I had to take pictures of the belt with the way the man folded it. Lol.
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