I wrote this up in the notes app on my phone in early March but just getting around to posting it. A lot has happened since then and all my grand plans for the year haven’t exactly gone to plan but I am grateful to still be able to maintain a pose of Thanksgiving regardless.
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On the morning that I shared the ‘testimony’ about my YouTube premium subscription, I was on a train going somewhere. After posting, I got on a call with one of my egbons. It was a long overdue call and I thought I could just take it on the train. But we somehow just kept chatting away and I didn’t realize when I passed the stop I was to change at.
By the time I realised, it was too late. And because it’s not keke or danfo or a car that can turn around, there was nothing I could do. I saw the train manager and we started discussing options. After all the shalaye, the only available options involved me buying a new ticket. This sucked because I had paid the full fare for my train to my final destination. These were the options:
- I’ll get to London and then he’ll put me on a train back to Leicester where I’ll now take a train to Stansted (my final destination) for free. This didn’t make sense because this was 9 am and this route meant I would get to Stansted by 3:30 pm. And I would have missed what I was going for. So no
- I would pay a sum in 3 figures to get there on time
- I would pay a sum in 2 figures cause he would start my journey from a different place. This was, according to him, him being kind because the 3 figure sum is what I should have paid.
It all didn’t make sense to me. The coach was practically empty so I could have been left alone. Thinking about it now, maybe I shouldn’t have called his attention to the fact that I missed my stop. Because he had checked my ticket earlier so he wouldn’t have checked it again. But that’s the fraudulent behavior we are trying to do away with in Nigeria.
Anyway, I eventually paid the hooge sum and made my journey.
What struck me was the fact that my very first thought was – thank God I have the card that has money in it on me. And second thought – thank God for provision.
I kinda want to say it was the devil’s plan to shift me from Thanksgiving to being upset but I’m also like random things happen in life and we shouldn’t give the devil too much credit. Whichever way, it fenced in Thanksgiving.
It’s not like the money didn’t pain me. There’s so much I could have used it for. But there was no point whining about it. My lesson is to pay more attention and if possible set an alarm so if I’m chatting or on a call, I am alert to my stop. The lesson doesn’t change the fact that I had to part with the money. It just helps me better cope and be grateful that I could afford to make the payment.✨
The above was written at 11:04 am. I thought I had been tested enough for the day but appaz more was in front.
So, my destination from Derby was Stansted Airport. I was going on a weekend trip. I got to Stansted at about 11:30 am. After making my way through to the check-in point, I realised that I left my passport and BRP in my room😂😂 the only thing I could do was laugh. And then I cried. And then I started searching for possible flights for the next day. I
I eventually sat at a restaurant in the airport, brought out my laptop, and just kept working until the time for my train back home. I didn’t even go straight home. I went to a friend’s place first because I just wanted to rest and be happy for a bit before I face the reality of my situation.
I eventually made it to Greece sha. And you see the post on that here.
This second time, it was so hard to ‘maintain the pose of Thanksgiving’. I kept wondering how I could have been so forgetful and careless about several things in the same day. But I tried to not dwell too much.
Soooo, on getting back to the UK, I realized that I didn’t book a train from Gatwick to my city. I had a train booked from Luton but seeing as I had to change flights, that was invalid. So I spent another unplanned sum. I decided to make a tour of London as well while at it.
I prefer not to recount how much this ‘budget’ trip eventually cost me. So I am taking this all as a lesson in endurance and all those other motivational stuff.
I’m accepting donations to compensate for the money I spent on this trip. T for thanks.
Stay joyful,
Sisikunmi
