You know how they say there would always be someone hotter or better than your girlfriend or boyfriend. There’s always someone who can do more for you than your man or woman. And that’s where loyalty comes in🙄🙄. Well, I had one of those moments yesterday. No, not with my boyfriend; with my wallet…which is the closest thing I have to a boyfriend anyways..sigh. And yes, I use a wallet not a purse. Don’t judge me – it’s easier to arrange money. 😏
Soo…I was on my way to ATM to withdraw the last one thousand naira in my account. I was praying in my heart that I had not reached the three-time-limit for withdrawal on other banks’ ATM in a month because that would mean I had to pay 65 naira, which would reduce the money in my account to 940 naira and ultimately make me unable to take my last 1k.
I was lost in my own thoughts when I suddenly heard loud clanging sounds behind me. Apparently, a woman who was passing by, mistakenly knocked off a market woman’s rice bowls which she carefully arranged for sale. If you live in Lagos, then you know how those women selling DeRicas of rice arrange it in pyramids. Something like this:
Well, somehow all the rice was on the floor.
The woman whose rice was knocked down immediately began shouting and holding the other woman’s wrapper to pay her money for the wasted rice. People had gathered and some were even recording the show. After all, that would probably be their only source of entertainment for the day. Trust me, I stood too, watching and waiting to see the end of the matter.
After some time, we noticed a young guy trying to push through the crowd to get to the woman. He was well dressed. Not extravagantly…just average. He looked just about my age. Tall, dark and handsome…yeah I noticed…don’t judge me.
Anyway, he finally got to the front and started speaking to the rice seller in Yoruba, telling her to leave the other woman alone. The woman responded saying she wouldn’t leave her alone until she gets her money. And like in the movies, he dipped his hand into his pocket and brought out his wallet.
Now this is where it gets crazy. It was identical to mine! Infact I had to look at my wallet to be sure it wasn’t mine. But I was convinced it wasn’t mine when he opened it and counted 15 crisp one thousand naira notes and gave it to the rice seller. He then counted another five and gave it to the woman who poured the rice away. Needless to say there were still a lot of crisp notes in that wallet and I had to hold myself back from going to pour away the pepper from the woman selling pepper at the next stall. I could use an extra five thousand naira in my life.
I left the scene still in shock and went to the ATM and as I opened my wallet it presented me with my ATM card and the measly 20 naira left inside. All I could think was “Dear Wallet, see your mates.”
And in that moment, I was probably hallucinating but I clearly heard my wallet reply me and say “Dear Tomi, see your mates.”
It would be an understatement to say that it hurt. But what I knew before hit me again. I can only get out of my wallet what I put into it. The same way you can only get out of life what you put into it.
I’ve met people with people with big dreams and there is nothing wrong with that. It only becomes a problem when they are unwilling to make the sacrifices for the things they want. Yet they expect it to happen. And when nothing happens, like me, they blame their wallet instead of themselves. They blame life instead of putting in more effort. I’ve learnt in life that nothing truly great is achieved effortlessly and even though sometimes life knocks one down, it is indeed willing to pay you back for your investments. Only one question…”Exactly how much are you willing to invest?” because in the words of L.M Montgomery, “It is not what the world holds for you but what you bring to it.”
We’ve probably all had that Dear Wallet moment. The one where you’re momentarily disappointed in the content of your wallet😂. Please share your thoughts and some of these moments with me in the comments section. I can’t wait to hear from you.
Thank you for reading.
Much Love😍
Your tiny-eyed storyteller.
TOMI OF LAGOS. 
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