Lets Speculate

It's been about a month since my last post. I can imagine what you are thinking by now: has he bought a car? Hmm... Well I have been really busy but more importantly, lazy. I bet you did not guess that.

I have been thinking of changing the focus of this blog to one of speculative journalist. I see so many things around which make me sad and happy. This is what I'll like to write about. And since I'm a solution oriented kind of guy I'll also like to write about solutions for some of the issues I raise.

I witnesses a very sad event on my way to the office today. A woman's fingers were smashed by the front door of the Benz 207 trotro I was in. I can still remember her inability to shout. She couldn't shout but her tears showed it all. She wanted to act strong because of her daughter but she could barely hide her agony.

This is not the first time I am witnessing an incident like this. From what I understand it happens quite regularly with this particular type of trotro (I mean Benz). Given that this Benz was made for carrying goods and not human beings we cannot blame them. The problem is that these trotros are high and often many above the age of 30/40 need to hold on to something to get down. Unfortunately, if you are on the first row there's nothing to hold on to except the front door. If you are not lucky and the door is opened, I guess you can imagine the rest.

I would think the solution to this problem is quite simple but no one seem to realize it. Since this happens to people in the first row who are trying to hold on to something to alight or board the bus, we can safely assume that an alternative to holding on to the door's space will solve the problem. I believe there are many types of holders this purpose.

What do you think?

Low cost Taxi Ride

This represented for me the sweetest trotro ride ever. The day is Friday, 2^nd May 2008. I was from my girlfriend’s hostel (Danquah Circle), destination – home. At first sight the bus looked like any ordinary one. Suddenly it slipped from the mate’s mouth that they will be going to Odorkor. Trotro operators usually rip passengers off by dividing their long journey into shorter last stops so that passengers more. Well, this mate had made a mistake and I saw this as an opportunity to get to Odorkor without changing trotros. The mate quickly withdrew Odorkor from his shout outs when he realized the slip so I paid to get to Kaneshie. Kaneshie was not such a bad alternative to Odorkor because Sowutuom buses LOAD (stop for passengers to board). Therefore, to me it was still a great ride.

I must say that I was not ready for what happened next. At circle, the mate started calling out for Odorkor, Kwashieman, Santa Maria ……… and Sowutuom. I really taught I was dreaming. I could not believe it. And come to think about it I almost didn’t board this trotro. I quickly called the mate to verify what I heard and if true pay quickly before they changed their minds. Can you imagine: it was true. I was going to sit in the same trotro from my girlfriend’s hostel to my house. This was officially my first “trotro taxi” from my girlfriend’s, home and it was just sweet. And do you know the best part about all this? The driver was not like most trotro drivers who wait and wait and wait and wait at bus stops to get the bus full. He only stopped when there were passengers to be picked up. He did not keep long at bus stops. It was just an excellent.

I got home in a record time of 45 minutes. This was unprecedented. It just made my whole night. J . My trotro journeys from my girlfriend’s to my house usually take at least 1 hour.

I wish this could happen to me every night.

Hmmm....

Green-horn Mate in the City

My life currently rotates around my family, girlfriend, church and ministry (I love singing), work and “the others” (these consist of the set of undefined stuff in my life). Currently, work takes most of my time which I know is most likely the same for you. Therefore most of my writing will be based on my trips from home to work and vice versa. I will endeavour to begin every entry with my start location and destination. I guess you are wondering where home is. I live in Sowutuom (if you don’t know where it is assume that it is far from work - Labone)

These events occurred on the 26^th of April 2008. I was from my girlfriend’s hostel going home at about 21:30. As usual I had to use three trotros. The first was from Danquah circle to Kwame Nkrumah Circle. It was a quiet and peaceful journey. I was very excited to be the last to board my second trotro because that meant zero waiting time. This however turned into a not so nice ride. I could not tell whether the conductor (locally called mate) had something bitter in his mouth. I bet that his looks could cause a laughing baby to cry. I suspected the journey may get a bit uncomfortable because I was sitting in the way of everyone who will want to get down so I got down earlier that I had paid.

My final trotro was the most interesting for the day. The mate looked really timid and new to his job. I later discovered that he had just come from Takoradi. He just could not get the balance between when to call for passengers and when to collect the monies of those already in the bus. He also could not tell new passengers from old ones. Therefore, he usually tried to out-smart the unpaid by asking, “YES! Bring your monies.” He almost gave away GH 1 to a hawker while in traffic because he wanted coins. He was saved by a passenger who prompted him not to give the money to the hawker before she gave him the change.

This mate got me thinking about a whole number of things. Is it better to live in the city where you are mostly critical and scrutinizing of other people’s actions or in the village/town where you are more communal, trusting and integrative? Which will you prefer? I think I prefer the earlier because I believe I’ll adjust better in a village setting coming from the city than vice versa.

Which do you PREFER?

WHY Trotro

Well I guess I need to define what trotro is for those of you who have never been to Ghana or do not have any Ghanaian friend who likes talking about his/her country. Trotro is the nickname (alias - 4 the geeks out there) for commercial buses in Ghana. They range from the very nice and comfortable to the back-breakers (popularly called bone-shakers). You cannot imagine the feeling of the later until you have ridden in one. TRUST ME

I decided to write about my experiences with trotros because I believe they have been the most intriguing for me. They range from exciting to unbearable. I am currently in a phase of my life where I use trotros a lot because I decided to be ambitious with a couple of friends to setup a billion Ghana Cedi (equivalent to a dollar ) company. And you know what... I have never regretted. You may not believe it but sitting in trotros is like the longest sightseeing/ tour/ adventure/ reality TV show I have even been on - the thrills, the excitement. the suspense, the betrayal. I guess I'm sounding like a Telenovela commercial now. For the ladies it is more than the chit chats at the salon and for the guys it is more than the Champions League or WWF. I am trying to whet your appetite.

Did I succeed?

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