I welcome you to my blog and another wonderful edition of the Hive Learner's featured post. There are times when people, sometimes strangers, will meet you at the point of your need, and you cannot help but agree that they are God-sent. There are times when you get help from places you least expect to get help from and from people who you don't even expect to come through for you. I don't know if I should call it a testimony, but I think we all have one or two experiences where somebody, maybe a family member or a stranger who we did not expect help from, offered us help, and fortunately for us, that help came when we actually needed it the most.
We cannot do life alone; there are times when you find yourself in tight corners, and you just know that if help does not come your way, there is no way you are coming out of that tight corner. Many people claim they were self-made or they did it all by themselves, but that is a big lie. You got help whether you agree to it or not. You got help from strangers, family and friends helped you in the little way they could. Maybe those little things they did that helped you become who you are did not matter to you, or you see them as small, but without that small push and small effort they put in, you will not have gotten to the level you are.
There are times when we have the option to ask for help or not ask for help, and there are times when you have no other choice than to ask for help because you have seen that if an outside force does not come through for you, there is no way you can do it all by yourself. Not everyone likes to ask for help or let people know what is going on in their lives, but life does not really care the type of person you are; it puts you in positions that will require you to do things you don't like and did not even imagine yourself doing.
I have had people come through for me countless times, and I don't take it for granted, but one help I got that to date still baffles me happened in 2023, about 3 years ago, but it still rings a bell to date. That was when we had this cashless policy issue in my country; we were forced to use money to buy money (that is, you pay a higher price, like 7,000 naira, and then you get 4,000 naira or 5,000 naira if the person you are in business with is nice). It was at the same time both the governorship and presidential election took place, so my dad asked that I come home since we live in the barracks, and he felt that was the safest place to be just in case the election caused a war or any chaos.
That journey still remains one of the worst journeys I have ever embarked on. I withdrew all the cash I felt would be enough and paid very high charges, as at that time the people accepting transfers were not this rampant. Mainly it was the cashless policy that forced a lot of people to start accepting transfers, as no one wants to pay those high charges for cash, so it is either you accept transfers or you miss out on business. At some point during my journey, I realized that the cash I had was not going to be enough to take me to my destination. I started pleading with the driver to accept a transfer at least since he was the one that would take me home, but this driver said it was cash or nothing. The money on me won't be enough to get the cash needed to complete my transport fare and then still pay for those charges.
Instead of the driver understanding and seeing things from my point of view, he decided that he would get another passenger to replace me and would refund what I had paid; that day was terrible. I called home, and they said they had cash and he should carry me, and when we get to the bus stop, they will pay whatever balance is left, but this driver said he needed the money to buy fuel, and the only way he would carry me was if I gave him the balance in cash. I was frustrated, but a mean-looking man in the front seat intervened; he gave the driver even more than what I was supposed to give him, and I wanted to transfer it back to him, but he declined.
That day if someone was going to help me, I would not expect that it would be him because if you see his face, even you will not expect him to be so kind. To date I still feel like he was an angel indeed because I remember spending hours waiting for the bus to get filled up, and then the driver now wants replace me with another passenger, which meant I would have to wait again for another bus to get filled up, the time, the distance, and all, but he saved me from all of that.
