Talking about first earnings, some of us may not even remember when that happened because most of us started hunting for money at a very tender age—so tender that we can barely remember the exact moment. You know, growing up in a family setting where you had to earn money to sort out some peer-pressured needs at a young age, such as buying a phone, clothes, shoes, games, and so many other things, because it was not part of our parents’ agenda to provide those things for us. As long as they were feeding us, clothing us, and paying our school fees, that was considered enough.
In fact, all through my primary and secondary school days, there was never a single day I was given pocket money to use for lunch in school like my mates. No way. Parents always expected us to eat lunch at home, even though we stayed in school till evening time. So, to cater for ourselves during those hot, hunger-filled afternoons that extended into the evening while we were still at school, we had to earn money to buy junk food just to sustain ourselves.
But nevertheless, the first time I earned money—as I can generally recall from my early days—was through clearing grass on a farm. No, not on our family farmland, because you do not expect my dad to pay you for that. I became a labourer on someone else’s farm, working alongside other colleagues. We cleared a large portion of land filled with grass, and we were paid for it.
In some of those instances, the labour measurement was done on a daily basis, where we had to work and stay on the farm all through the day, and we would get paid at the end of the day. In other cases, a large portion of land was measured for us, and once we were done clearing it, we were free to go home and still get paid at the end of the day.
While writing this, my mind travelled back down memory lane, reminiscing about those days and the boys we used to go to the farm with to work. Mehn, we lived life to the fullest in those days. Those pennies we earned back then were big money to us, and each time we finished working, we would immediately start calculating how to spend the money. Some of my friends were into clothes—those bling-bling clothes—while some were interested in gadgets such as games (of course, button games), headsets, and later on, phones. I was very interested in using my earnings to buy clothes because I was not opportune to have many clothes like other guys.
Thanks for reading.
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