Time no dey

Time wasting is like kente in Ghana, it's part of our culture. Ghanaians find all sorts of creative ways to waste each other's time. Sometimes it almost feels like a sport. One that has no ending time. Then again it could be a game to the death. We waste each other's time ahhh till we die. You go to the bank they waste your time, you go to the restaurant they waste your time, you die and are ready to be buried sef they will waste your time. No one is safe at any stage!
I'm sure you are reading this and going like "I know right? Ghana dier so so time wasting" but you naa you are part of the problem. That doesn't mean you should stop reading oh. I beg. But let's be honest we are either equally a time waster or you are helping this very bad habit. I'm not excuded oh. In fact far from it. I'm also one of the Dj Time Wasters but let's look at this on a whole shall we?

To be honest I'm tired of waiting. I'm not saying making someone wait is a crime but at least people need to know it's not good. One day I was asked to come for a meeting at 2pm. The person told me not to be late so I got there just before 2 and had to wait for an hour because the person was out on his lunch break. What the hell?! I was not amused at all so when he finally came back I asked him why he asked me to meet him at his lunch time and guess what he said "Oh I didn't want you to come late so I'll have to wait." If it wasn't for the fear of God and good training my parents have given me I would have done something jail warranting to him. How is it ok for ME to wait?! People need to stop this thing.

Most people don't see anything wrong with asking people to wait. In their heads it's like "oh but will sitting down for 2 hours kill you?". Well it probably won't but will attending to me on time kill you too? We all know the answer to that. These days, you are actually tricked into waiting by your own loved ones. Who has ever been to a wedding where the starting time was a lie? That thing can pain eh? Some ladies have a limited time span their make up can last and you trick them into coming early, how wicked! I don't know about you but I don't want to start my marriage on lies. At least use words or phrases like 'prompt' or 'kindly be there early' or 'refreshment will be served just before the bride enters' or something just don't make me come and wait.

It's simple, let's just try to consider our fellow men and women. Let's put ourselves in each others shoes and act accordingly. There's the general perception in Ghana that if you require something from someone you should be prepared to wait no matter how long they ask you to and it's bad. Ei especially at Ministries. That place dierr it's just a place you go to wait. Let's change our habit because it's not fresh. It's time we showed some respect for each other because the honest truth is that you never know the amount of harm you are doing to someone when you make them wait for hours. So my dear Ghanaians unless you are ready to pay people, don't make them waiters *drops mic*.

Gifts

I woke up immediately I heard the door bell ring. I slowly closed my eyes again when I remembered I wasn't the only one at home. Surely my little brother, Elorm would be awake. That video game playing boy was always awake. Unlike him I preferred to sleep till mid morning because I was on vacation.

When I heard him open his door I pulled my covers closer and tried to go back to sleep. I was almost successful when my brother barged into my room. "Eyram there's a package for you!" He said, excitedly. I looked at him suspiciously, wondering if he was up to any of his usual pranks. "Elorm, if I go downstairs and it's not true I'm putting your X box, Y box or whatever it is called in a bucket of water." I threatened. He just giggled and asked me to hurry up. I got out of bed and made my way to the living room. Our parents had left for work.

Elorm was not joking. There was a delivery man on a bike with a box. I walked over to him. He asked me to sign in a notebook and handed over the box to me. Then he left. I wasn't sure what to say because I was not expecting anything from anyone. I looked around the box to see if there was a sender's address but I saw nothing. "Open the thing la." Elorm said. I giggled and opened it. My eyes gleamed when I saw what it was. It was a tablet pc. It wasn't brand new but it was an awesome tablet I had been wanting about for some time. I was very eager to find out who gave me this amazing gift.

There was a little note that read "hi Eyram, a friend of mine was selling this at a really good price. Immediately I saw it I thought of you. I hope you like it. Anna." I held the note staring at it for a few more minutes. I knew the handwriting, there was no mistake it was from my cousin. "What did the note say?" Elorm asked when he noticed my change in mood. The truth is that I felt very bad. Just a year ago she left the country because she got a scholarship to study abroad. I promised to keep in contact with her but I didn't. I remember her calling me often but I rarely returned her calls. Even after such a long silence she still thought about me. I smiled and realised I had a lot of calling to do.

Doesn't this feel like something we all go through? Well not all of us get tablets from our cousins, for sure! But just like Anna God showers us with gifts in many forms even though we  sometimes ignore him. Like Eyram we give ourselves so many excuses; calling abroad is too expensive, I will text her tomorrow, she's probably busy with her new friends but the truth is that Anna still loved her and that love brought her to the right place. It's time for all of us to be at the right place with God. If nothing at all we should pray to say thank you :)