Generic Ambien Dangerous

15 Aug

If you Generic Ambien Dangerous were not to drive from Badagry into Lagos, and you were to Generic Ambien Dangerous take public transportation, or better still a bus, you would notice the Generic Ambien Dangerous high number of traders on that route. I often did this Generic Ambien Dangerous last year, during the time I lived in Badagry. I would get into the Generic Ambien Dangerous bus, sit, with my legs slightly raised. I normally sat directly at the Generic Ambien Dangerous back of the driver. Most of the buses have one row of seats too many, such that Generic Ambien Dangerous any tall person would have very little space for their legs. But the Generic Ambien Dangerous row directly behind the driver is right behind the engine covering of most buses, and Generic Ambien Dangerous as the engine covering reach up high, almost as high as the Generic Ambien Dangerous seats, you are able to place your feet on the engine cover. This does not go without its own disadvantages as it Generic Ambien Dangerous often means that your knees are drawn really close to the Generic Ambien Dangerous chest, and after a while your legs start aching because of poor circulation. But the Generic Ambien Dangerous trick is for you to get the seat directly behind the Generic Ambien Dangerous driver, for at this part, the engine covering is much lower than Generic Ambien Dangerous at the other parts so your feet are placed much closer to Generic Ambien Dangerous the ground than it would be if you sat a seat or Generic Ambien Dangerous two away from that spot. That is the spot I normally aimed to Generic Ambien Dangerous get.

There are Generic Ambien Dangerous other advantages to sitting at that spot. One is that, since the Generic Ambien Dangerous back door that passengers are allowed to use is at the Generic Ambien Dangerous other side, not at the side of the driver, you don’t have Generic Ambien Dangerous to disembark or move each time a new passenger comes in. The other advantage is Generic Ambien Dangerous that you are at a nice position from which to Generic Ambien Dangerous view what is happening at most parts of the bus. With your Generic Ambien Dangerous feet slightly raised, a turn of the head a little to Generic Ambien Dangerous the right makes it easy for you to observe the Generic Ambien Dangerous passengers as they come in, and a shift of the Generic Ambien Dangerous body a little to the right, still maintaining that slight turn of the Generic Ambien Dangerous head, gives you the advantage of seeing most of the Generic Ambien Dangerous persons in the bus. Now, at this spot, I was able to Generic Ambien Dangerous observe the other people in the bus, the actions of the Generic Ambien Dangerous police who stopped our bus almost every ten minutes, and Generic Ambien Dangerous I was also able to hear the wranglings of the Generic Ambien Dangerous driver as he tried to bargain his way into paying as little bribe as possible.

But that Generic Ambien Dangerous is not the story; the story is written on the faces and Generic Ambien Dangerous the bodies of the people who are normally my co-passengers when Generic Ambien Dangerous I took the bus. No, it is not the way the Generic Ambien Dangerous faces are set, or the ways they sit, although that – the way they sit – has Generic Ambien Dangerous a story all of its own. The story is in the Generic Ambien Dangerous way the expressions on their faces change each time we were stopped by the Generic Ambien Dangerous police or customs officers. Oh, I forgot to add that Badagry is Generic Ambien Dangerous close to the Nigeria-Benin border, and that only one main road leads from Generic Ambien Dangerous that side of the border into Lagos. The buses are normally packed with goods bought by the Generic Ambien Dangerous traders, who are most often women. Under the seat, in what Generic Ambien Dangerous remains of the trunk after extra rows of seats have been Generic Ambien Dangerous added to the bus, on the laps of the women or Generic Ambien Dangerous between their legs. Several consumer goods – rice, T-shirts, denim trousers, an occasional bag of vegetable oil – are Generic Ambien Dangerous normally some of the goods packed under the seats, or are Generic Ambien Dangerous hugged closely by the women. The women’s faces tell stories of hardship, of nights of going without sleep, or Generic Ambien Dangerous days without a shower. But those are the stories that are Generic Ambien Dangerous written on the faces even before they got in the buses. The stories their faces tell once they are Generic Ambien Dangerous in the bus are different. You see stories of apprehension, at seeing a Generic Ambien Dangerous customs officer who had never been seen on that road and Generic Ambien Dangerous so might be a hard person to bargain with; anger, at the Generic Ambien Dangerous odd driver who does not know how to deal with the Generic Ambien Dangerous police or the customs office; disbelief, at the crazy driver who Generic Ambien Dangerous is so greedy as to think that he could outsmart the Generic Ambien Dangerous customs officers or policemen at the checkpoints and thus provokes them to Generic Ambien Dangerous telling each and every passenger to disembark from the bus and Generic Ambien Dangerous declare – oh, that dreadful word – their goods; assumed expression of innocence, at the Generic Ambien Dangerous customs officer who asks them to explain how come they had Generic Ambien Dangerous this amount of this, and that amount of that; desperation, once the Generic Ambien Dangerous customs officer proceeds to seize the goods; and relief, once they are Generic Ambien Dangerous able to reach a bargain with the customs officer, and their goods are Generic Ambien Dangerous returned.

These stories make you ask: why? Why is it that they continue in the trade? Is it Generic Ambien Dangerous because they make a lot of profit from the trade that Generic Ambien Dangerous any inconveniences are compensated by the financial gains? Or is it simply because it is the only trade they know? Is it Generic Ambien Dangerous because of that promising child who would not have money for Generic Ambien Dangerous their school fees if she didn’t make that trip to earn some money? Or is Generic Ambien Dangerous it because the responsibility of fending for the family has fallen on her shoulders after her husband has Generic Ambien Dangerous been given the sack by his employer? You want to know, to understand.

Whatever you Generic Ambien Dangerous think, each time you disembark from the bus you leave with a Generic Ambien Dangerous renewed feeling of respect for the stories their faces tell, for Generic Ambien Dangerous their resilience, for taking charge, and for constituting a very important part of the Generic Ambien Dangerous economic life of Nigeria. Then you think, Maybe I should write a Generic Ambien Dangerous book about them.

  • iyan and egusi soup:

    loomnie:

    a very thoughtful post. i do think you could write more on the women’s stories.

  • iyan and egusi soup:

    loomnie:a very thoughtful post. i do think you Generic Ambien Dangerous could write more on the women’s stories.

  • Liisa

    Thanks for sharing this story and your thoughts on this with us! It was an interesting read!

  • Liisa

    Thanks for sharing this story and your thoughts on this with us! It was an interesting read!

  • Szavanna

    Hi there – great post – reminds me of the Generic Ambien Dangerous Ayittey TED talk. I think it is very important not to Generic Ambien Dangerous ignore informal trade – those are the people that DO something – no matter the circumstances – and Generic Ambien Dangerous not wait for the politicians to solve problems. Here in South Africa most of the Generic Ambien Dangerous time – informal traders are chased away by the police – you can read more here : http://www.artmarketonline.co.za/amarantharticles?wid=148&func=viewSubmission&sid=104
    - an article by Netanya – who Generic Ambien Dangerous was selling her beads and necklaces on the street for quite a Generic Ambien Dangerous while together with Nigerians, Senegalese, and other African countries. Actually it Generic Ambien Dangerous is a very interesting topic.

  • Szavanna

    Hi there – great post – reminds me of the Generic Ambien Dangerous Ayittey TED talk. I think it is very important not to Generic Ambien Dangerous ignore informal trade – those are the people that DO something – no matter the circumstances – and Generic Ambien Dangerous not wait for the politicians to solve problems. Here in South Africa most of the Generic Ambien Dangerous time – informal traders are chased away by the police – you can read more here : http://www.artmarketonline.co.za/amarantharticles?wid=148&func=viewSubmission&sid=104- an article by Netanya – who Generic Ambien Dangerous was selling her beads and necklaces on the street for quite a Generic Ambien Dangerous while together with Nigerians, Senegalese, and other African countries. Actually it Generic Ambien Dangerous is a very interesting topic.

  • Szavanna

    And also – I wanted to remind you – that next carnival is hosted at Szavanna_blog – so that Ishtar can focus on things in Niger :) So please keep in touch and Generic Ambien Dangerous let me know if you have new posts in mind. (I enjoyed your writing actually – may be Generic Ambien Dangerous you SHOULD write that book about the women on the bus :)

  • Szavanna

    And also – I wanted to remind you – that next carnival is hosted at Szavanna_blog – so that Ishtar can focus on things in Niger :) So please keep in touch and Generic Ambien Dangerous let me know if you have new posts in mind. (I enjoyed your writing actually – may be Generic Ambien Dangerous you SHOULD write that book about the women on the bus :)