28.6.2014

Something about riding in a public bus in Lagos.

This isn’t fiction. Nigerians are this annoying.

The BRT bus. 7:17AM. 27/6/14.

It’s raining heavily as my family driver pulls into the parking lot opposite the BRT bus station. I run out of the car just to notice the first bus is full. However there are two other buses parked behind it. Somehow I’m lazy to bring out my umbrella and struggle to open it but there’s this young man with a big umbrella who comes to stand close to me. I smile in gratitude. The second bus drives forward and we both get in. I pay for my ticket and he pays for his. The bus is still empty so I go around searching for a comfortable seat. I only notice the young man is still following me when he points out seats for us. I shake my head and tell him I do not like those seats. Somehow I’m praying he would leave me alone and go and seat somewhere else.  So I finally get a seat I think I’m comfortable with and the young man who had been hovering all this time comes to seat beside me.

This is the problem I have with people. They share an experience with you and then they think it’s enough to make them familiar with you. One time a guy that sat beside me told me I looked familiar. I had never seen the man in my life. He laughed his stupidly shameless laugh and said he was joking. That he just wanted me to give away stuff about myself. That he just wanted to know me. I was too furious to reply. There was another guy who sat beside me once and the next time I saw him in front of me on the BRT line he paid for my BRT fare without even offering to do so. I insisted he take his money but he refused. Just to sit beside me and make small talk and then ask me for my twitter handle because he noticed my twitter was open on my phone. One guy kept asking me why I refused to give him any information about me. Like it was the most normal thing to do to listen to a stranger in the bus telling you he likes you, give him your name, address and phone number, maybe email too and tell him your life story. LOL.

So this guy asks me if today is Friday, I say yes. He talks about how bad the traffic will be for a while. I put my head down and put my earphones in so he gets I don’t want to be disturbed. He doesn’t get it. He keeps trying to get my attention. I hear him saying excuse me but I pretend not to notice. He goes quiet thank God. Then I’m going through the pictures on my phone and this guy taps me. He asks me to show him my pictures. I’m too horrified. I shake my head violently saying no almost repeatedly. I put my head down again till he got off the bus.

END OF STORY.