It was Friday and like any other day I boarded a commuter
bus(Specifically Zuri Genesis) from town.I was with Hussein,of course you
will get used to this guy(not his government name,atleast its in his
driving license).In most times when we board the same bus,its either one
of us who pays fare.First come first served basis ,this means if am the
first to volunteer to pay then i pay for both,if he does then he pays
for both.This time was my turn."Tulia nitalipa'',i volunteered.I always
leave town during rush hours so am used to the maximum fare.Having other
commitments yesterday we left abit late,that could mean the fare would
be lower,sure it was.So it was just fifty,the conductor gave me change,I
was surprised he was charging fifty,Hussein assured me 'such times' the
fare is 50bob.Being the last trip before the the bus operators could
call it a day,it had to be fuelled at a Total petrol station,as its a
norm with the bus company. As the bus parked at the fuel station lo and
behold the conductor discovered from some sheet(kinda schedule they use
to submit cash) at the station,that we were supposed to pay 70bob.It was
a rare moment.He pleaded with the passengers.''Tafadhali,please'',he
begged,''mniongeze twenty tu,naomba please''.He sounded genuine in his
voice.I had never seen a conductor this humble and kind.We looked at
each other in the bus.I felt his request."Tumpatie tu'',I added in some
in faded tone.I reminded myself this man should be in a stalemate to
make such a decision.We unanimously added the twenty.It was like taking a
paycut,a voluntary one.He collected and thanked us.That correction
charge just relieved him.There are those situations in life that really
bring us to unexpected behavior.We are used to rude conductors yes,those
who shout 'mwisho wa pesa yako ni hapa'.This was very unique.The above
reminded me how earlier in the week I forgot my house keys in the
office.I slept at a friend's place.I was grateful.Little did I know the
next day my opposite door neighbour would also forget hers.She had
called a jua kali guy who came with the tools,but I had to give a hand
too.We tried but the padlock would respond to none of those.It was all
nothing until Bob showed up.Bob is a skinny guy,abit darker.He is my
neighbour on the second floor.Before you start complaining to me of how
the 15mbs get finished quickly on your safaricom line,let me
clarify;he's not Bob Collymore.Ok,he came with a suggestion,he assured
us viro was not our type of normal padlock.He told us to break the
curved metal that hosts the padlock...it worked.That was a success.The
door finally opened.In other unrelated matters I saw a look-alike cat to
'ours'.Sadly it has an eighth of a tail,I am tempted to feel its our
cat,hugely because of its conspicuous absence from our plot.Maybe it
has been recovering elsewhere.I just hope we will get to the core of
this matter.We hate rats,in that spirit we have(no otherwise) to love
cats...though we hate to love the cat.Enjoy your weekend
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