I walked down the lonely road back to my house by 2pm. Lectures had just ended, and I'd have stayed longer but I didn't know anyone yet. I had been on campus for only a week now, and most of the time I counted himself lucky to strike up and hold conversation with one person each day.
I saw an old man walking up the road towards me, wearing a black t shirt with a peculiar badge. I didn't have to greet him, the old man seemed engaged deep in his thoughts, but I figured there was no issue. I popped one ear of my headphones out and bellowed a strong "Good afternoon, sir".
The old man beamed with a smile, stopped and greeted me back. He said his name was Igwe, and after a short conversation, Igwe was on his way. It was a positive point for my day and even though every security guard (as I later found they were) was not as accommodating, I still made it a point to greet them all in the hopes of brightening up someones's day.
I walked down the road, alone but not lonely. I had made more than a few friends, and even though no one particularly followed me on this route, I was free to reflect on the day's happenings to keep myself company.
I still always popped an earphone and greeted the security guard on duty.
As time went on the road stopped being lonely at all. I was often crossing the security post surrounded by friends, laughing and joking at the top of our voices. It would have been understandable if I got run over by a car in my distracted state, let alone remember to greet someone.
But I always had a little bellow for my friends in black.
One night me and some friends were coming back from a late night party off-campus. While we were off partying, some students on-campus had orchestrated a massive robbery campaign along the very road we were walking on.
Out of nowhere men dressed in black surrounded us, armed with flashlights and pump actions, asking us where the things we stole were. We shielded our eyes from the light, while our cries that we didn't know what they were talking about fell on deaf ears.
It wasn't until I heard them talking about carrying us to the Security Office that I got really worried. Basically, once you get any mark on your testimonial that you had a documented run in with security, you're in bigger trouble than you could possibly imagine.
At this point I brought my hands down and away from my face, risking blindness. I shouted to them, "Oga wetin nah, una no sabi me again? Me wey dey greet everyday everyday." Judging by their silence, it appeared nobody "sabi"ed me.
Except for Igwe.
It turned out Igwe was the only one working the double shift that night. The people I had been seeing in the afternoons to greet were all day shift workers, and you often never see the night shift because it's...not exactly a well lit school.
It was eventually with Igwe vouching for me that I slipped out of that scrape, and spent an extra 10 mins convincing them that my friends were no more robbers than I was.
I guess the moral of the story is...greet people(?) No really, it's just to be all round respectful and nice to people. You never know if the guy you allowed to go ahead of the line will be the one to give you transport money when you lose yours.
And even if he isn't, even if you never see him again
What does it hurt to bellow out a good word here and there?
