Written by Ali Elias
Sometime ago, I had a need to reserve a seat with a bus company for a journey I intend to make to Abuja. I did the reservation a day to the travel.
On the day of the travel I woke up early at about 5.15am; and tried to connect on phone with the staff, at the bus company, who helped to make the reservation. The call did not go through. No worries, perhaps, I thought, it was too early.
I left house around quarter to six, instead of between 5am and 5.30, when I didn’t reserve a seat. That was enough for me to catch their Abuja bus which usually leaves between 7am and 7.30am. In Lagos, a delay of 15 minutes can make a wide difference in traffic, of anything up to two hours! And that’s no exaggeration.
There were already buses at my bus stop for the connecting journey to the bus station but surprisingly, as early as that, they were loading in turns. I had my doubts if the bus, loading, would leave on time but because I had made my reservation, I decided to go with them. Otherwise, I had the option of taking short cut by going half way.
It took just about ten minutes for the passengers to come, leaving only one space. For the next ten minutes or so, that single passenger proved a scarce commodity. I began to be apprehensive. Would I still be able to reach there before the bus leaves?
Another passenger pleaded with the driver to go without the only passenger remaining but he insisted that he must carry his full load, advising that anyone who wants to drop can do so and he would refund his money.
Because of his politeness I decided to give him more time, though I was already worrying. After about five minutes, my patience was up and I decided to come down. I went to him, explained my plight and requested for my money. He was still very polite, much unlike Lagos commercial bus drivers. He actually wanted to refund my money but suddenly changed his mind and decided to go without the passenger. Relieved, we left.
Soon as the vehicle moved I called the staff of the bus company again. This time the number was through but he didn’t pick the call. This set off a trigger: “They must have replaced me.” I was beautifully worried. The driver was not helping matters either. He started stopping at every bus stop, along the way, to fill up that remaining space. The thought of giving him a punch from behind crossed my mind but I dismissed it. “Don’t be tensive” an inner voice advised me.
With that voice I cautioned myself and began to calm down. But that lasted for just awhile; for soon I was at it again. By now it was becoming obvious that I can’t get there even by 8am. In my mind I was thinking of what to do. Should I go back and reschedule the journey for another day? Or still continue to the bus station? What if they have gone? What happens to the time and money I have wasted? Time came second, for I have all the time but money? I was below the ground. “Don’t be tensive” the voice came again. Again I recognized it, and obeyed.
Calmly I put another call to the bus man. This time, he picked. Then the sad news came. They did not have a bus to Abuja for that day. He went ahead to advice that I should go straight to their other bus station close to them. “What do you do now? It was from my inner voice. I knew that it was teasing me; and I burst out laughing. In that light hearted mood, I told myself that I would go on to the station.
To cut the story short, the second station had a bus. It was a new one with everything inside intact. By some unexplainable twist, considering the time I reached there, I got the very seat I was reserving at the other station. That’s not all; it had a phone charging port by my side, a feature their older buses don’t have. I was thrilled.
As I stood by the bus waiting for it to be loaded, my mind went over the events on the connecting journey once more. “Don’t be tensive” I was ashamed. Why was I even tense? I should have relied on the timeless number of occasions where it has been demonstrated to me that there is no need to be tense, irrespective of the condition.
I have even observed that when am relaxed about a situation, it turns out for the better for me.
It always comes back to the question: Would being tense help in any way? Am sure you know the answer. An absolute no. Rather it would worsen the situation.
There are many ways to avoid stress; that would be explored in my later articles. In the meantime, I would like to end this with an advice from the world’s oldest person, a Japanese, “don’t store stress”. It’s a sound one.
Written by Ali Elias