HAPPENSTANCE: IT RARELY HAPPENS TWICE: MY CHURCH BUS
HAPPENSTANCE: IT RARELY HAPPENS TWICE
MY CHURCH BUS
A happenstance is a coincidental event.
If you call your brother on the phone, that's intentional. If you bump into him
in a restaurant, it's happenstance.
A happenstance rarely ever happens twice.
It usually refers to an unexpected good thing.
Many people get so excited by the first
instance that they expect the happenstance to happen again. The great
expectation is often met with disappointment and lamentation.
Adelami, my friend, was given a top
political appointment by the governor of his state. He wasn’t a politician and
had no input in making him governor. He was the kind they call technocrat.
The only thing that stood my friend in
good stead was acquaintance with His Excellency when they met abroad.
Four years went so fast. It was time to
chase a second term.
Lami put everything he had into the fray.
He was sure to get a better position next term or at worst the same level.
Elections came and went.
His friend won.
Adelami received more congratulatory
messages than even the re-elected governor.
The cabinet was soon formed and my friend’s
name was missing in the list.
Lami was livid with rage. Eyes red and
voice shaking, he narrated how hard he worked to ensure His Excellency got a
second term.
I sat him down and told him the story of MY CHURCH BUS
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MY CHURCH BUS
Long ago when
I was just a teenager, my big Sister and I had an idea of a pass time during
the holidays. My parents tried to dissuade us. My father would insist holidays
are for resting.
We started a
lobby through my mother.
Asked what we
wanted to do, we said we wanted to trade. They laughed us to scorn.
After some
days, they called us again to explain our business plan.
Very simple;
we would buy whatever fruit was in season from Apata market, break the bulk and
sell in retail.
We were asked
our marketing tools and strategy. Simple too, two big trays and hawking.
My parents
agreed on two conditions; No crossing the major road or railway and all trading
must close by noon.
So we started
hawking.
My mom was our
auditor.
Lest I forget,
my sister always sold out but me ...? Thanks to some yeye football games at Kuole
field in Odo Ona.
You might
wonder what my hawking business had to do with a Church Bus.
During a
particular holiday, bananas were in season. The trend was the usual. My sister
sold much more than I did.
Then one day,
I hadn't spent a minute at the junction when a big church bus going to Abeokuta
stopped. The bus was filled with people. Before you can say 'Femolad' my
bananas were sold out. I happily went home with my tray, feeling like a hero.
My sister didn't sell much that day.
No matter our
sales, the business was 50:50. It was a Saturday, so I was allowed to go play
football.
Basking in the
euphoria of the sales boost I spent the following week waiting for Saturday to
come.
On the next
Saturday, I packed double my usual stock. Off I went to the junction to wait
for MY BIG CHURCH BUS.
At a quarter
to twelve, the bus still hadn't come. I stood there sweating, fighting back
tears of disappointment. The load had suddenly become too heavy.
When my sister
got home and didn't see me, she came to fetch me. She took my load (God bless
her soul. She was the best sister there ever was) and I followed her home in
tears.
We got home
and my Great Mom encouraged me and even gave me a bottle of Fanta.
Then she told
me, 'Son, your Church Bus came once, don't expect that it will always come back
your way again'.
You may have
an opportunity, a chance, when fortune suddenly smiled on you. There are times
when fate suddenly becomes your ally, when your Church Bus suddenly comes down
the road. There was nothing I did differently that morning. My Church Bus just
came.
Do not believe
you can always walk to the road and the Church Bus will come.
The
opportunity you have that put you where you are today, without much ado, may
never come your way again.
Like my big
tray load that second Saturday, what you got so easy may not be achieved even
with greater effort.
Secondly, if I
had scoffed my sister when my Church Bus came, would she have carried my heavy
load when my Church Bus didn’t come? When fortune smiles at you, be good to
people who stood by you when you were under the bar. You may need them to carry
your load when your Church Bus doesn't come.
I dedicate this story to the memory of the two greatest women I ever knew, My Mother and My Sister.
ALSO READ:
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MY WALL OF FAME: IYALODE WURAOLA ESAN, NIGERIA’S FIRST FEMALE SENATOR
NAVIGATING CHALLENGES: ADDRESSING LEADERSHIP IN THE PDP
SADIYA FAROUK & BETTA EDU: Humanitarian House of Fraud and Square Pegs in Round Holes
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