It as not been easy after my year of graduation as I have experienced a lot of disappointment in searching for a sustainable job that can earn me a good salary to take good care of my family most especially, my Mum, who had went through a lot of hard time to make sure I had a better education which will make me a better person in the society. This has always be a bone of contention even between me and my friend back then in our university days, I could remembered whenever we are on free periods, we would always talk about life and to be candid, we always talked about life after school, how to get a good job, how to build a lovely family and how to take very good care of our families.
Though, it has not always be my wish to work in any ministry, it is something I always go against whenever issue arises on it, I don't want to spend the first 25 years of my life sitting on a desk and spending the next 30-35 years facing another desk. I don't want to work for money, I want money to work for me while I sit back and enjoy my life. I want to use that innate potential that God has given me to become somebody in life and anytime I say this, people around me will always be like "why did you have to go to school then?" My response to them always goes thus; education goes beyond going to school to become a graduate and getting a white collar job, every child according to Rousseau is born with innate potentials and one of the purpose of education is to help that child to discovered that potential.
Despite my years of schooling, I failed to discover my ability and with the kind of pressure I'm facing at home to get a job, I had to start looking for job desperately and the first job I got is with Dreamland, a company that hires professional drivers to work for them. I started working for the company and with the little salary I received at the end of the month, I could avoid some things for myself and take care of my Mum to some length. I always received calls from the company to take passengers to their various destination.
I worked for Dreamland and everyday, I will always received a call to pick the nearest passenger to where they are going to and that continues for the next 6 months because I couldn't get another job that will pay me well with my qualification.
It was a memorable Friday, the day I met Mrs Black, as usual, I got a call to go pick someone at Yaba Road and when I got there, a woman came in and ordered me to drive down to GRA. It was around 9:15 am in the morning and it is 1 hour 15 minutes drive down to GRA. We exchanged greetings and I set out like a wildfire. Mrs Black got a call and after the call, she told me if I could make it to GRA in the next 50 minutes, she's going to tip me $100 because she have to be in an important meeting at exactly 10:20 am and it is not going to be easy if she couldn't beat that minutes because her job is at stake.
$100 to me is a huge amount of money because what I get at the end of the month is just $50 difference, the moment I heard of the money, I changed the gear and it was like a moment I have be waiting for to show off my driving skills. I looked at Mrs Black from the mirror and I saw that man boldness in her but what amazed me more about her is the fact that she asked me if I can still do more because she can't just avoid to loose her job. I guess she earn a lot from the job and I remember that quote that says " if you can live for it then you can die for it"
We arrived at GRA and when she checked her time, it was just 10:02 am. She paid the money she promised me and gave me her card insisting I must give her a call later in the day. After glancing through the card, I realized she was a manager of a racing team. It was like heaven on earth that day. When I got home later that day, I forgot to put the call through and the next morning I did as she requested. I asked me if I can come over to see her because she have something very important to discuss with me. I told him I wouldn't be free until weekend when I will be having my off and she accepted.
So weekend come and I went to see her to know why she asked me to come over, she told me she was the manager of 02 racing team and has she talks to me, the board of the team has gave her deadline to make things right in the team or else she will be fired as the team manager. From what she said, I passed the test she gave to me which many drivers out there failed and that was when I get to know she only wants to test my ability when she told me she has an important meeting.
"If you accept this offer? You will start with $1500 and if the board sees the way you progress, more will be added." She said . "You have some crazy driving abilities and it will be very good if you can show it on the track. I don't know how much you are earning for driving that cab but this is also a chance for you to become a celebrity in the society." I guess she was saying all this because she thought the money was too small on my own side not knowing I can't wait to be on the track.
"If you save my job, you will become famous." She said.
I had my trial and it was a good one but it is more easier to be a pundit than to be a coach. One thing is to be a cab driver and one thing is to be a racer. I resigned from Dreamland and allmy papers was signed as I made the headline in the dailys the next day and it was written "02 signed a ghost rider"
My first race took place 2 weeks after my signing and I appeared in a Toyota kit, everyone was on ground to see the new ghost rider and it was a dream come true for me. I start up the engine, my leg was on the clutch while my hand was on the gear, the moment the race begin, I raced like that will be the last race of my life but unfortunately, I came second and that changed Mrs Black job security from -3 to -1 and she was very happy but insisted I still need to improve on my drifting, probably the only reason I lost the first position.
As time goes on, I begins to build my reputation on the track before I got my first injury that knocked me out for 3 months when a guy who happens to be a rival hitted me out of the track. I was back on the track after my injury and I did everything to give Mrs Black +5 job security while I also became so famous.
This is my entry for the freaky Friday contest organized by @pete, you too can participate in the contest by joining through this link.
I hope you find this post interesting and educating, until then, I remain my humble self @Oxygen02. Thanks For Reading👍
Comments