LIFE IS UNFAIR TO ME 💔
In all honesty, life hasn't been favourable to me.
I try my best to keep on doing the little things I do without allowing grief to get hold of me.
I wear smiles on my cheeks, yet, deep down, I'm covered in my own tears.
My life is quintessential of one who wine and dines with failure.
I began my university studies about 10 years ago, but I couldn't finish up because I was financially incapacitated. I had to drop out from school during my penultimate year.
No! No! No!
Don't say I could have waited for just one year.
Do you know what I've been through?
Do you know what 1 day means to me in the sight of my debtors and in the sight of "life" that has chosen to treat me with utter disgust?
Do you care to know how my heart skips a beat whenever I am all alone thinking about how to clean myself of this huge mess?
MY JOURNEY AS AN APPRENTICE
When I dropped out from school, I served as an apprentice for 5 years. Few days before my days of apprenticeship ended, I was framed and accused of stealing $50 and seducing my Master's wife.
How come? What sort of accusations are these?
My Master's wife was in the country for only 2 weeks since I began my apprenticeship, and during the two weeks, I went to a different state to carry out a difficult task based on my Master's orders.
So, how come?
And $50?
The accusations were evidently fabricated and this was "visible to the blind and audible to the deaf."
Yet, my Master remained adamant and threatened to call the Police to lock me up in the cell.
After all my plea and humble explanations, he agreed to let go and free me off the accusations on my head so that I won't be tagged for life as "the man who stole $50 from his master" or "the man who seduced his Master's wife."
But this came with a price!
Rather than the initial plan of setting up a business for me and giving me a parting sum of $2000, he said he will give me $1000 only without setting a business for me.
A beggar has no choice!
I accepted!
With the $1000, I cleared my debtors who agreed to wait till this time. I paid them off with $920 and I was left with $80.
I had to begin my life with $80.
I sold the few clothes I had for about $9. And the total became $89.
LIFE WITH $89
Truly!
Life has been so wicked to me!
I wake up each day, not assured of any meal but I have never lost hope.
I began to hawk gala (sausage roll) and soft drinks by the road side. Initially (in the first half of 2021) I buy a dozen of both commodities at the rate of $4 and $6 respectively, and I make a profit of $1.8 if I sell all. So the trick is to sell as many as possible in a day. I am always happy when there is congestion or traffic jam on the road because I am sure to get more customers on days like that.
Little by little, I began saving up my profit, and I had already saved up $121 in the local bank. That is after I rented a small bedroom apartment.
My newly found happiness was shortchanged when I was arrested by the Police officers and charged for a crime I did not commit. I spent a year in the prison because of a crime I did not commit. I was granted bail when a Christian Charity Group took my case as Pro Bono and fought for my release.
NEW LIFE?
I got back last month.
First of all, I went back to my apartment. O NO! My 1 year house rent already expired few months ago.
I went to my local bank to withdraw the $121 I saved before i was detained. Unfortunately, the $121 is now worth $72 because my country's local currency has been devalued.
I wanted to continue with my business, I realised that a dozen of gala now costs $8 and a dozen of the soft drinks cost $10. Selling all products only give you $1.2 profit.
My country's currency is getting weaker, and the purchasing power is low. Yet, the prices of commodities are skyrocketing everyday.
I cannot buy things I would readily buy with $12 and make profit of about $1.8. I have to spend $20 to buy the same or reduced product, and make profit of $1.2 (less than the profit I made a year ago).
When will this suffering end?
THE BIG PICTURE
The story of the young man above is not so much about a technical understanding or critical evaluation of the concept of inflation.
No!
It tells the story of inflation from the young man's (who I choose to call local man) perspective. Such that it shows that inflation affects everyone differently and in a unique way
So, when one speaks about inflation or gives any opinion on financial related matters, know that that opinion is not alien from his or her personal financial experiences and journey.
