Boom!!! Her heart leaped, and it was like she was staring at death in the face. That was the first time she heard the sound of a real gunshot. She laid belly flat on the floor while whispering prayers of preservation to God. The plight of the Anglophone crisis had reached the foot of Mount Fako, and Ebude knew that was not going to be a pleasant ride.
Finally, it was Wednesday morning, and people had amassed the courage to leave their hideouts after a two-day lockdown. Ebude made it just in time for the meeting with their manager in the conference room. “Our Buea branch will be closed indefinitely; the headquarter thinks it is unprofitable to…” before Mola could finish his statement, the room was already rowdy with angry employees. It was like the weight of the world had fallen on Ebude’s shoulders; was it the pain of losing her job or the fear of a stray bullet picking her? She couldn’t tell. She picked up her bag and a few belongings from her desk and left the office in a foul mood.
Earlier that month, Ebude had almost cleared her savings to buy for herself a brand new iPhone series; there is a way iPhone cameras make a girl glow that Ebude could not afford not to experience. Under normal circumstances, the little change left in her account could take her till her next paycheque, but with such a heartbreaking development, all she could do was hope for a miracle. Weeks turned into months, and Ebude was still jobless. In a bid to cater for herself, she had posted a picture of the fairly used iPhone in a couple of WhatsApp groups, and the best offer she had was not even up to half the price for which she bought it.
Lesson:
Buying out of excitement and not out of need is a danger that should be avoided at all costs irrespective of the source of the money. Expenditures should be carefully planned such that there are no future regrets.
“If you buy today what you do not need, you may need tomorrow what you cannot buy.”—C.P Asomeji
This is an amazing lesson