A CRAZY EXPERIENCE

 

                                             
A friend of mine-Tope by name-came to see me at home one weekend. I was doing laundry at the time, so he stood watching me as we talked. After a few minutes, there was that moment of silence that occurs during most discussions when everyone is left to his own thoughts. Tope broke the silence with a deep, resonant chuckle that indicated amusement, and I asked him the reason for his mirth.

“It’s something that happened when I went to the market on an errand for my mum.” By the time he was done narrating his experience, we were both laughing hysterically.
He explained that it all happened in the taxi he had taken to the market. One of those taxis that transport different passengers, like a Danfo (Yoruba term for commercial buses). Tope sat at the passenger seat in front, and some women-traders, by their looks-sat in the back.
While they were on the move, Tope noticed that the driver always struggled whenever he had to switch gears. He would grunt with the unusual amount of effort he must apply before switching successfully. Tope looked at the handle itself. It was worn, and reminded him of an old, tired employee that is ripe for retirement. The passengers in the back had also noticed, and were watching warily as the driver continued the laborious work of coercing the gear to move.
Then at one point when the driver attempted to change gears, it stubbornly refused. He pushed and pulled harder. The gear remained adamant; it wouldn’t budge. In frustration he poured all his strength into the arm and pulled, determined to switch by fire by force.
”Hnnngh!”
And the gear handle came off! All the passengers shrieked in surprise and fear. The driver himself stared at his hand in midair, his fingers curled around the handle, as if he too couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The women began to hurl abuses at him (you know how they are, our ghetto Nigerian women) and shouted at him to do something. “Haa! You want to kill us before we go home to our children! You this stupid idiot! You will not kill us o! We will kill you first.”
Tope startedlaughing. The driver fumbled with the handle as he tried to refit it. “……….no worry, I go put am back……abeg make una no vex.………”
He eventually succeeded, and the rest of the journey was uneventful. As Tope recounted this incident, I laughed till my stomach hurt. Tope was laughing, too.
“Funny man, that driver,” I said.
“Abi o,” Tope agreed. “He’ll go on managing that gear until it gives up completely. I pray he’s not on one express road when that happens.”
“Exactly my thought. Maybe he’s waiting for an accident before he does what he knows he should do.”
This was my friend’s experience. I’ll be doing this segment occasionally.If you or someone you know has had a similar experience, please don’t hesitate to share it with us. It doesn’t have to be something about a car-any crazy experience will do.

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