Cash Exchange
Hello everyone!
This is yet another wonderful week to participate in the weekly contest.
Do enjoy!
Each day, I wish that I could rant about many things that are weighing me down to someone who would immediately do something about those things in order to give me comfort, but unfortunately such people do not exist and so most of the time I feel that ranting doesn't yield anything positive and it only makes one tired and exhausted from too much talking.
But, this wonderful community has given me a space to talk about what has been bothering me and how I feel about the things bothering me by giving us wonderful topics to discuss.
My school's academic session for 2022/2023 closed in December last year, just in time for every student to go home and celebrate the festivities with their family. The session ended on a high note with a final exam which ended quite on time (surprising really!).
I was to travel back home the next day and my bags were already packed in anticipation. Because of the journey that I had to make the next morning, I needed enough cash that would be enough to transport me to the bus park.
My mistake was thinking that my friend would once again help me out with cash as she had done before in the past. In the past, in a bid to avoid POS (Point Of Sale) charges from the vendors around me, especially when finances needed to be held tight, I used to visit my friend and neighbor to inquire if she had cash to spare so that we could make an exchange free of the POS charges.
She had helped me twice that semester whenever I needed cash before the exams began and my mistake was thinking that she'd willingly help me on the last day of the semester.
At that point in time, banks were not dispensing enough cash to go round for everyone and as a result, it led to a scarcity of cash and it affected a lot of individuals in the school, myself included and I was in dire need of cash.
All I needed was five thousand naira and the only person that came to mind was my neighbor so I went to her room to ask if she could help me out and what she told me was that I'd have to give her five hundred naira in order for me to get five thousand naira from her. I was shocked by that and I asked her why to which she replied thus:
“It's business and I just want to cash out"
I was disappointed immediately for many reasons. The first one being that she never informed me about this update and that it felt like she sprung this up on me in order to rip me off. I was also mad at myself for thinking that she had my back in difficult times which she obviously didn't.
Another thing that annoyed me was the fact that she wasn't even an official POS vendor, so why was she charging me exorbitantantly?
Why the sudden change?
I couldn't hide my discomfort, so I let her know my mind. I told her that what she said to me wasn't a good thing and that I felt like she was trying to dupe me or something.
All she could do was stare at me in silence without even trying to defend herself at least.
I later found out that she had been to the bank earlier in the day to withdraw a huge sum of money just so that she could begin her business of overcharging girls just so that she could cash out.
All I could do was shake my head and sigh through my teeth. She did all that without informing anyone, she just preferred to spring it on us. And there was no way I was going to the bank that evening because it was already late and the best I could do was patronize the POS vendors who charge exorbitantly as well.
I really didn't know what to do.
Later on, she came to meet me to tell me that she'd give me five thousand naira for three hundred naira if I was still interested and that she reduced the price because I was involved.
I accepted the price only because I had no other choice and it was already late and I was also traveling the next day. With a heavy sigh, I gave her three hundred naira and collected five thousand naira from her knowing fully well that I'd never patronize her again.
With that five thousand naira, I was able to transport myself to the bus park the next morning and soon, I was on my way home.
The major lesson I learnt from that experience was to never expect someone to do something because humans are really not predictable.
I also learnt to go to the bank myself during the day whenever I needed enough cash to carry out any transaction so that I wouldn't be stranded the way I was that night last semester.
The funny thing is that when we resumed this year, she didn't carry on with the business which didn't surprise me as everyone knew that she was just trying to make quick cash from her fellow students who couldn't make it to the bank that day due to exams and who needed to travel the next day.
I learned and I will make sure that I don't fall victim next time.
