Reality Bites

It
was a beautiful Friday afternoon. I was rounding up my work in the office in
preparation for my flight later in the day. I had only a few hours left before the
flight and I still had lots of things to do. That afternoon was typically fast
paced. I didn’t need any other extras from friends or family; my deadlines were
already impossible to meet and any additional task would have pushed me over
the limit. Just as I was winding down at work, I got a call from a friend who
needed a favor. Dear Lord, I almost
sighed. He had a parcel to deliver to Lagos that same day and since I was
headed in that direction, he wanted to know if I would be kind enough to
deliver it for him. My first thought was to say that I could not. Really, I
already had a large piece of luggage and I didn’t want any extra burden. But
then, what are friends for? So I agreed to deliver the parcel. But we still had
one little problem—how was he going to get the parcel to me? I decided that it
wasn’t my problem. He ended up sending his driver to deliver the parcel to my
office gate. It was simple, very simple; but, like every other plan, someone
would suddenly have a flash of an idea at the last minute. So there I was,
rushing to meet a driver at the gate, and bear in mind that I was already
running late for my flight. So I jetted down the staircase and almost ran into
a man at the door.
“Excuse
me! Good afternoon!” he said, trying to get my attention. I glanced at the man
and mentally made my assessment. What
does this man want? Impatient at his lack of eloquence, I kept walking after
offering him a polite smile. I had barely stepped away when I overhead him
talking to my colleague who was right behind me.
“Please,
I’m looking for Seye.” At that point, I
stopped and turned. Why would he be looking for me? It was then I realized that
the man whom I’d tagged as inconsequential was holding the parcel I was running
to collect at the gate. I felt reality burning through me like frostbite on a
cold night. I turned and apologized for my rude behavior. He handed me the
parcel with a smile and left with a polite nod. I was transfixed where I stood,
wondering how much time I would have wasted if I had walked all the way to the
gate in search of the man whom I’d passed by because I had my nose up in the
air.
Talk about the law of recognition!
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