It's Friday already, and I still feel very weak from the stress I went through on Tuesday this week. My tired bones and joints still remind me vividly of all that transpired that day. Looking back, I can only imagine how cruel humans can be and how wicked some people can be to their fellow humans. Why is it that some people have already sold their conscience? Why is it that there is no longer a tiny empathy in the life of some humans? It's really something concerning, but it is what it is.
I have been holding myself back from ranting about this, but I just can't help it anymore. On Tuesday this week, I went to Lagos State Teaching Hospital with my son to see a neurologist; it's a routine visit. The hospital is very far from my home, so in order to arrive on time, we usually leave home around 5am. Everything went well in the hospital, and by 12 noon, we started going home. My God, the traffic on the road was something I can call terrible.We boarded a public bus, as Uber is too expensive these days. Considering the long distance and the heavy money I already paid in the hospital, I didn't nurse the idea of using Uber to go home.
What baffles me is the high cost of transport fare this bus driver charges this day, yet they will squeeze passengers as if we are goats. Overloading is an understatement. Like, the whole sitting was so compacted to the point that you can't turn right or left or look back; just maintain your tight sitting position and sit tight. Hmm, it would have been fair without crazy unmoving traffic on the road, but the traffic complicated the whole issue.I could have entered the BRT bus instead, which gives better comfort than joining the normal TP bus, but that's by the way; it was a mistake I don't wish to repeat on my next trip. The traffic, the overloading, and the discomfort weren't even my main problem, but what I am about to say...
Due to how crazy the traffic was, lots of drivers were struggling to make headway with any opportunity they saw to make a move. Our own driver in the process scratched a little the car of a private car owner just beside us. Before we could blink an eye, the driver of the private car jumped out from his car, pulled out tear gas, and sprayed it upon all of us, the passengers inside the bus. Can you just imagine? It was a disaster! Immediately, we all started coughing, and one of the guys was struggling to breathe. Another lady was screaming that her breath was ceasing. We all evacuated the bus immediately, and some guys from our bus rushed the heartless driver who did that and started beating him up mercilessly. He wasn't even a police officer, so how come he had teargas under his custody? What if there was an asthmatic patient in our bus? That would have resulted in death. Some of us struggled to breathe for some time due to inhaling the tear gas. It was bad.
If our country were well structured, such a wicked man should have been thrown in a jail by now, but he is still walking around in society, planning for another devilish scheme to hurt people.
Overall, it was a bad experience for me and my child and everyone in that vehicle, and I hope never to witness a similar experience going forward. I wish humans could have a little bit of empathy; our world would be a better place.
Images are mine