How A Roadside Market Reminded Me That We Are All The Same

It was getting late and I hurried the man selling garden eggs to give me change. I ‘ll call him Salihu for the purpose of this article. I had asked him if he had change for N500 and he reassured me that he had. I bought garden eggs worth N300. He did not have N200. The sellers closest to him would not give him. This piqued my curiosity because I could see N200 in plain sight.

I bought from him because his garden eggs were the right colour of eggs I needed to make garden egg stew. Not fresh or green and slightly changing to the bright orange colour that is perfect for cooking.

I am not one that is quick to return the goods and walk away. As a salesperson, I tend to empathize with people who prospect or sell to me. Respecting the hustle has grown on me. Perhaps because I have encountered quite a few nastiness in my career as a sales and customer service personnel in the past and I know that a shift in the way we respond to sellers has to happen in our society.

Salihu couldn’t get change after a few more minutes I got impatient and decided to take the search for change into my hands and he disappeared to also do some search of his own. I am ‘friends’ with most of the other people selling on that roadside.

I tell people buying things on my way home is therapeutic for me. I find a spot to park my care and buy fruits, vegetables and a few other perishable that the Government of Lagos State makes possible to be sold along Isheri Road, Ojodu Berger causing traffic of course, but that is a matter for another day. Some think it odd but this interaction is a form of retail therapy and it has served me for years now.

My first stop was the tomato seller, she smiles as I approach her hoping I was coming to buy from her stall when I told her I wanted change for the garden eggs I just bought from her neighbour, her face hardened and she said she didn’t have. Not even when I offered to buy some pepper from her. Next was the watermelon seller, he also refused to assist immediately I told him I was from the garden eggs guy when I probed he said ‘ im no de gree give anybody change, so we no give am too’.

Meaning he doesn’t help us with change so we decided to stop helping him too. I take that as my cue to mean no one else along that line was going to help.

I pleaded that he should give me and deal with the guy later as I was tired to which he motioned to me to drop the garden eggs and buy from someone else. The tomatoes woman also said the same thing, adding that it(garden eggs) wasn’t even fresh.

After some time he reappeared with some money and sorted me out. His neighbours didn’t look too happy that I waited for him or that he was able to close the sale. I tell him he has to change and cooperate with his neighbours more. A woman who was also shopping told me not to worry about him adding ‘ he is new here, he will soon learn the rules of engagement’.

As I drove home I thought about the man and how he almost lost my transaction, he told me lack of change has cost him a lot that day. When I asked him why he refused to give his neighbours change in the past. He said their request was normally ill-timed.

In the roadside market, people are walking by and any seller who fails to sell quickly will lose to a nearby seller or the person buying changes his mind and decides not to buy because most of the purchases are impulse-driven anyway. The currency of the business is prompt service. Not having change or an inability to secure change from those around you meant your business may suffer from low patronage.

When Salihu started selling there, I am guessing he wanted to keep his change to himself, because he guessed why to give it out when a customer could just come by. So when others asked him he will decline. Now selling by the roadside is a hostile environment and a good support system is what keeps them going. You need friends to let you know when they spot law enforcement, you need friends to help you negotiate with tricky Local Government staff, you also need friends to help safeguard your spot when you may not appear. When my Ugwu seller gave birth, the woman selling Ponmo beside her made sure she put something to indicate the space is not vacant till she she returned to the market.

Like these sellers, we all need community and collaboration to survive and thrive in our endeavours. In the beginning, it’s easy to see the next man as competition/threat or to one to observe before trusting others.

But while trying to peel the layers around our colleagues, neighbours personalities we should be genuinely supportive and cooperative, seize opportunities to forge human connections and foster goodwill. As they say, we don’t know tomorrow.

That evening I was reminded that we are all the same, in a way, going through different things but the rules and basic principles remain parallel.

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.