"Demola, you need to be proactive. Don't you know you are a man?" Look at your mate; see how they are doing things to make their father proud. Must I tell you everything before you know how to do it?"
This was my father nagging at me because I refused to take my dirty plate to the kitchen.
"After all, I am still in the dining room, and I will take it to the kitchen. Why is he always shouting?" I thought to myself. Was it because I forgot to take my dirty plate to the kitchen the last time, or because I forgot to bring in the bag of beans that was at the door before it was soaked in the rain? The last time my room fan was so dirty, he had to nag for weeks before I cleaned it. It's not like I wouldn't do it. I just don't like to be told to do something before I will do it. I know that I will do it, and I will do it on my own time.
This has been my way ever since I finished high school. "I am a big boy now" was what was in my head every time. No one can correct me or tell me to do anything. I am an adult, so I know what to do and I will do it on my own time. Everything was going fine until I got a job at a factory where baby powder was being produced.
Our supervisor was a woman who expected you to do everything and follow the instructions in her mind. On this fateful day, I had just gotten to work; everything was going fine until she asked this question.
"Who left this carton of powder here?"
Everyone went quiet like the carton of powder fell from the sky. I was new, so I wasn't expecting anyone to point fingers at me, but I knew very well that it was the job of the suppliers to move the cartons of powders to the store. I saw the carton but left it because I wasn't the one who kept it there.
"Where are the suppliers?" she asked immediately. Sadly, I was the only supplier around, as the rest are yet to come.
"Yes, ma'am, I am here," I said, shaking in my safety boot, trying not to show any fear because I wasn't sure what was going on.
"When you arrived this morning, did you meet this box of powder here? Yes or No." She was a very tall woman, her eyes piercing me through the big goggles on her face as she asked the question with a frowning face.
"Yes, ma, I did," I said.
Immediately she answered like she was waiting for my reply, "So why did you not take it to the store? Are you sure you want to work with us? I can't believe how dumb you are. You saw this carton here, and your dirty brain can't tell you this is not where this belongs. You are not smart at all. Who employed you here, and how did you pass your exams in school?"
The insult kept coming, and it was at that moment I realized what my dad had been saying to me. At the end of her statement, she said, "You are not proactive in any way, and people like you always turn out to be a failure."
Those words struck me like lightning and sank into my brain like the Titanic in the ocean. I felt like crying, but I didn't. I used her words as motivation to "blow away the cobwebs" and start afresh on a new slate, not just at my workplace but also at home.
It's been more than 5 years now, and I don't think there was any time I hesitated to do the right thing at the right time.
Thanks for reading.
