A day for the gods!

There were several teeming hawkers hustling and bustling at the El-walk street leading to 37 stations. Among them was a woman whom I’m sure could be in her late 40s.

Where she was standing was a bit away from our car, and the sun was very blistering. I was made to believe that the sun had gone mad due to some single men who’ve refused to be using their pen legally for other matters than urinating.

Since the mate was visible, unlike me, I asked him to call the hawker. Upon request, I saw the way this woman tiptoed hastily, meandering her way through other cars, and oncoming motorcycles at top speed, as if she was not carrying loads of bottled water.

The sun had bathed her in sweat toils of hard work if I should say. She brought a 1.5L bottle of being aqua water out. It seems that was all she had — 1.5L bottles of water. I took it and handed one cedi to her. But she humbly reminded that: “brother, this is for two cedis.”

On a way into my wallet, passengers in the car had started buzzing already. They were fighting the woman’s price margin. And you know how women hated to be cheated when they go to market. They started calling their fellow woman all sorts of names. That, because it’s El-walk, and rich people frequent the road they’re selling a one-cedi-fifty-pesewa bottle of water for two cedis. Meanwhile, the same bottle of water is sold at its original price anywhere within the 37 stations.

I was very irked at their nuanced opinion. Though I also do bemoan excess profiteering, I feel a fifty pesewa difference, the tedious and life-threatening work of hawkers, even if the water is for five cedis I would not break a neck when buying. Because those complaining, when they go to these foreign shopping malls they buy everything without asking for a reduction, so why were they berating the hawker?

And thinking that I’ve seen it all, today I witnessed another demeaning encounter. Our driver had sped off, thinking he could beat the traffic which was blinking yellow. So as we were stopped by the red light, the mate started calling a hawker for a passenger who wanted water to drink. But in this case, the hawker was a young woman (probably in her 20s). The car had already passed by her.

As if the mate knows already, he said, “you see, she won’t come. The pure water sellers here they don’t respect!”

When the traffic had turned green for us to go, the hawker had still not made it to where our car was I think she hadn’t even moved in the first place.

Some females in the car began bursting as usual, “oh, so it’s true. They don’t respect. Just pure water. But look at the attitude they’re showing.” One man also said, “that’s the reason I hardly buy from them when I reach here.”

I have to dissent from this position because of their bigotry against the hawkers. Are the nagging passengers saying that they can’t factor humanitarian reasons into their rants? So because they desired water to drink, they want the hawkers to run to their needs, regardless of putting their lives at risk. What if the hawker feels so tired? Maybe the market hasn’t been fair, so they were being a bit moody? Or do the passengers want to say that their one cedi had eventually made them superior over others? And that the hawkers are less of human?

This is our way of life, we the ordinary. We are good at helping the devil to win over our brothers. And for this reason, Allah poked at us in Quran 37:25: “….what’s wrong with you, why don’t you help each other?”

Now reflect over the above verse. Let us be proponents of egalitarianism. For anybody at all is a “somebody”. And nobody is a goat!