Tales on Wheels – Approko

 

A Taxify driver told me a story of how he once picked a lady that owned a high-end phone, that on quick estimate, cost between three to four hundred thousand naira. However, the place he picked the girl from was, for lack of a better word, a slum. He was now wondering “How is this girl using this kind of phone?” So, after dropping her at her destination, he went back to the pick-up location to look for her mother. It turns out her mother was a petty trader whose stall was close to the house. He then told her: “Se ri omo yin, phone ti oun lo yen (Do you see your daughter? That phone she’s using), is worth about three hundred and fifty thousand naira. The girl’s mother shouted and the driver took his leave at that moment.

Talk about casting; he aired the girl’s laundry like that, no remorse. He just went to cause wahala and disappeared. I almost died of laughter, the story was too funny. All the same, it begs the question how far has the gist I tell Taxify drivers spread? How often has my story been exchanged? And most importantly, has any driver randomly gone back to my house to give my parents gist?