Yesterday, I boarded a taxi at the junction of my house headed to Sakumono junction. If you are familiar with my area, you would know that taxis on two different routes pass there. The first route ends at 18junction or taxi rank or KFC as it's been recently referred to. The second route follows the first route but ends at Sakumono junction which is about 2mins drive away from KFC if you discount a delay at the traffic light at Spintex junction. So how does one know if a taxi is going to Sakumono junction or will end its journey at KFC? Simple. The driver points downwards if headed to KFC only or points eastward if headed to Sakumono junction. The potential passenger points same so that the right taxi stops for him/her to board.
So yesterday I pointed eastward, as is the norm, and watched a number of 18junction taxis pass me by. Finally one taxi stopped for me after emphatically pointing eastward. I boarded, greeted him and gave him my fare. He had trouble finding change so I told him I could wait till we got to the station at Sakumono junction so he could get some for me. Funny enough, to cut out extra detail, when he got to KFC he announced that this was his last stop and handed me GH₵9.00 as change. I expressed my disappointment at this action of his and reminded him that he stopped to let me board when I had clearly indicated where I was going. His defense? That's why he gave me GH₵9.00 instead of the accepted GH₵8.60 .
Now what made this all upsetting to me is though it may be a 2min drive from KFC to Sakumono junction, it cost GH₵1.00 or sometimes GH₵1.20 complete this distance via taxi. Even more annoying, it cost GHC1.40 from my junction to KFC and GHC1.60 from my junction to Sakumono junction. This taxi driver was in effect telling me to find my own way at a GH₵0.40 or so loss because he decided to change his mind along the way and breach our initial 'agreement'. The principle was definitely getting to me more than the actual monetary loss. To add to that, I had to cross two busy roads to get to the stop that would get me a second vehicle to Sakumono junction. I could have walked briskly for about 12mins to Sakumono junction but I had neither the time or energy to make the journey in the 2pm scorching sun. So I guess you could understand my frustration and my not appreciating this taxi driver's 'goodwill' and 'restitution' for the inconvenience he was causing me.
My protests fell on deaf ears and I was left to make my way to the next stop upset. I stood at the stop for a while and waited for a vehicle heading to Sakumono junction. Finally I got a trotro, which charged me GH₵0.60 . Though that wasn't cheap by trotro standards I learnt something:
Life seems to be full of taxi drivers
who deceive us - intentionally or not -
and shortchange us in the present
for their own convenience
But God allows us to meet trotro drivers
that prevent us
from suffering our feared loss
in the end.
I paid GHC1.60 for the trip to Sakumono junction, the same amount I intended to spend for the trip in a Sakumono junction bound taxi from my junction.
Who are the drivers in your life? A boss, a friend, a parent, a landlord, a system, a debtor, a colleague in another department, an in-law, a pastor, a daughter, a subordinate, a creditor, a stranger? Who? Inconveniences or not, God does have a way of allowing us to reach our expected end.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
(Jeremiah 29:11 - KJB)
The next time a driver causes me to change course, I'll remember God's promise of an expected end.
And you? What about you?
