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DESPERATE LESSONS


DESPERATE LESSONS


I was 19 years old at the time, waiting to gain admission into the university. I'd never been one to sit around doing nothing plus I desperately needed the money. So, I asked around for available jobs and a church member told me to check a new spot where an eatery was about to be set up by one of the top members of the church. I checked it out and was hopeful about being the cashier and also get to use the computer: this was in the 90s and I was among the few who had learnt how to use the computer. I was asked to return the next day before 9AM for the interview, along with other people of various age grades.

From Surulre I headed for Costain and I arrived by 8AM. However, other DESPERADOS like me we already there waiting for their fate to be decided by the boss. After an hour and thirty minutes crawled by, we met with the boos, lady... 
This woman, you could tell from the nature of her skin that she was of the high-class society. She smelt, spoke and walked expensively, telling all of us present what and what not to do. There were guys my age and women my mother’s age and I wondered what they were there to do. My wonder became a scary land when some of us were asked to do the dishes. The guys chose to do the cleaning of the house which seemed to be this woman’s and the older women there were asked to cook the foods that were going to be used for the opening of this new eatery. I was at first reluctant but thought "oh maybe this was part of the interview." So I joined this wacky train whose destination we knew nothing about.

From 10AM, we were there washing plates. Then it turned 12 noon and the plates just kept on coming from nowhere. The guys kept on cleaning and the women were still there cooking variety of foods while the boss worked hard monitoring every thing we did.We had not eaten breakfast. Every time I heard the rumble in my stomach, the words of the boss would  set my brain aright:  “nobody should even dare to steal or taste any food (even the women cooking).” This chorus went on and on so much that I wished for the soloist to change track!

It was obvious that this was a startup restaurant but what was more obvious was the fact that it was going to be run by a witch from hell. We kept on working and by now; 3pm, my hands were numb from washing. I could feel the cold creeping into my system and my back ached because we weren’t given even a seat to be comfortable in while we worked.

One thing about work is that it steals time away too quickly. We had all been there for 8 hours without food and we did not even realize it until this woman announced that we were going to keep working till 7pm and if there was any food remaining for the day, then we’d get something to eat. It then dawned on me that all this while the food and plates were going and coming from the main restaurant. This woman did not want to pay for labour that was why she told us it was an interview and we fell head over head over heels because of desperation. 

There was nothing to think further. The dream of pressing a computer and being a cashier fell from my eyes as tears, as I dropped the plate in my hands like a ghost and headed home without anyone noticing, not looking back. I got on a bus and the tears just kept running down. There was nothing like shame left in my bones, just sadness. I was sad for not being in school learning. I was sad for coming from a poor background and I was sad for allowing myself be used by that woman. 
 I did not wash plates for almost a month after that incident…

I would ask myself sometimes: "was I the foolish one for failing at the interview or were the ones who waited behind just senseless? Why didn't anyone of us stand up to that woman for dehumanizing us like that? 

A Shared Experience.
Don't Forget to Be Honest!

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