Running Errands: a day of firsts

I actually can't remember when I started writing this post. But this day I'm writing about was on 3rd January, 2023. I just found it today in my notes and decided to finish it up.

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Running errands isn’t anything new. Back home and in school, I’m always doing one thing or the other. But whenever I go to live in Accra with my sister, it’s different. I do literally nothing. I’m just there waiting to hear ‘get dressed, we are going out’.
And this is how I expected this day to be too until my sister decided at the last minute that she didn’t want to go out. I was to go out with her driver to run a couple of errands. For the first time, I have to do everything by myself in this city.

The first task was going to the mall to get a pair of sneakers for my kid sister. Over here, the mall isn’t the ideal place for these kinds of things but that’s what my sister prefers so there’s no other option. Every time I’ve been to the clothing stores in the mall, it’s always with my sister or both my sisters.
So all I had to do was look around and find something I like. When we got there, my first problem was finding out exactly where the store is. But I just walked through the entrance and found myself right in front of it.

So I went straight to where the sneakers were but I couldn’t really find anything I like so obviously, my kid sister wouldn’t like it as well. One thing we have in common is our taste in baggy clothes and sneakers.
I took a couple of pictures and sent it to her on WhatsApp to see if she likes any but no.

I also had to get a couple of shirts for one of my elder brother so I went to that side.
I couldn’t really find anything I like so obviously, he wouldn’t like it too.
I called him to let him know I couldn’t find anything. So he told me to go to a different clothing store we all like.
I was excited but I needed permission from my sister to go there cause it was in a different mall very far away. So I called her and she searched and found it at another mall not so far as the one I was thinking.
So I headed out and told the driver we were to go to Achimota mall instead. He didn’t seem to like the idea so I told him I couldn’t find what his madam asked me to buy so she said she should go to that mall instead. It was actually far but the driver knew his way around with a lot of shortcuts.

We finally got there and I haven’t been to that mall before. So where do I actually start from.

I just chose a side and went through that entrance. I made a turn and the store was right infront of me.

I went in so excited. Cause even though I was to get stuff for my siblings, I knew I could find something here for myself.
I walked through the male section but then I had to go and check on the sneakers for my sister.

Another disappointment. There’s nothing I actually want to get from there.

So I decided to check for something for myself. And I wasn’t really getting anything. Cause everything I seem to like, I already have it.

I went back to the male section to find my brother’s stuff. I took a few pictures and sent it to him. Then I called to tell him to check his messages and he wasn’t picking up. I called a thousand times. At this point I was pissed. Like I’m doing this for you and you can’t even stay by your phone when you are the one that asked me to go to this store😏.
So I looked around and got him a few shirts. I found some cargo pants and I just have a thing for them. I went to check the prices and no one told me to walk away 😂.

I went back to the ladies side to get a shirt or something for my sister since I didn’t find the sneakers.

I kept moving up and down and I didn’t realize I was wasting so much time. I finally settled on a shirt and went to pay.
I’ve never used a credit card before and I was so nervous. So I gave the card out and I was only asked to enter the code. I did and I was like that’s so easy. Just this and I was so stressed for nothing.

When I was walking out, I saw Mr. Price again. The same store I went to and didn’t get what I wanted. I thought I should check this branch to see if I would get something.

I went to the sneakers side and it wasn’t so encouraging but I walked around and found some cargo pants at a better price. I took it and went to the fitting room.

Then my aunt called to say she had a call from the driver saying he has been trying to reach me and was wondering why I took so long. So I quickly went out to pay and leave.

But I wasn’t done just yet.
I had a bigger headache. I was supposed to withdraw some money from the ATM. I had a conversation with @zzzinnn earlier about it and he explained the steps. I didn’t read through the message and I just said okay.
As I was walking out, I saw a machine with just two people. I wanted to stand there but I panicked and walked past. I called @zzzinnn to ask if I can just put the card in any machine. It’s funny but I did have a solid reason for asking 😂.
Then I found another machine and a lady was standing not so far from it. I got to her and asked if she was to use it and she asked me to go ahead.
I got to the machine and the first problem was figuring out where to put in the card. I tried a place and I wasn’t going in. I was looking around and finally found the right place. When I kept the card in, I realized it was been pulled in. I panicked again. Like what would I tell my sister if the card gets stuck in the machine 😂. So I pulled it out. Then I thought that must be the way it works. I put it in again and it disappeared into the machine. My heart skipped a beat. Time to operate the machine. I followed the instructions on the screen to a point I was asked to input my code. I was expecting the numbers to appear on the screen and I kept waiting and wondering why it wasn’t showing. I was tapping the screen but nothing. Then I saw there were keypads🤦🏽‍♀. This couldn’t get anymore embarrassing. I did everything else and the process was complete and I was expecting the money to be out already. I could hear the sound inside the machine but I wasn’t seeing the money. All kinds of thoughts were in my head.
I had watched a TikTok of a girl saying she went to withdraw money and when she tried to take out the money, the machine was pulling it back inside. So when the money finally came out, I gathered all the strength in my hand to pull out the money but I was also trying to be careful so that it doesn’t tear.
I got the money alright, now the card. It finally came and the relief I felt😩. I just took my thing quietly and left. The lady was still standing behind me. I’m sure she must have been shocked seeing all that.
When I got back to the car, the driver was kind of angry, saying that I had gone to take so much time. In my head I was like if this was your boss, would you tell her that😏.

My sister called to say she wants salad for dinner. So one more errand to go. But where I was to get that food was just like a 5 minutes drive from home. I didn’t know the place, the driver also said he doesn’t know there so we had to use the map. All throughout the journey, the driver kept receiving a call from a particular woman and he kept telling her he would be there soon. We had a hard time locating the place for the salad cause I was looking at the map and directing the driver and he was telling me there’s no such place. I had to call my sister to talk to him. When we found the place, it was locked and the driver said his kid is at the hospital and they’ve been calling him to come pick him up. He just succeeded in making me feel bad. We made it home in no time and I went straight to packing my stuff since I was leaving the next day.