"You're 5 minutes late" the hoarse voice of Hassan startled him. 5 minutes was a fair time to have been considered as late, Garba thought. He had heard of Hassan's strict principles when it comes to managing his business, but he had also forgotten that there are factors that could make him late that were beyond his control
"Sorry sir" Garba replied knowing Hassan doesn't accept any excuses.
"You could have avoided this if you'd left 5 minutes earlier" Hassan said, his face all red as he stared at Garba sternly. Garba stayed calm as Hassan lashed him over his late arrival.
Garba was a data analyst in TechCo company, he was known to be punctual to work, except today. He loved everything about his Job but the fact that his boss expected them to be flawless. One mistake was enough to get anyone sacked, he had watched over the years how workers were hired and sacked for little errors and he knew he wasn't better, he couldn't fully rely on this Job because his job security in here wasn't guaranteed.
"One more lateness, you'll be out of this company" Hassan fired. It was enough word for Garba to find another stream of income, he knew the assurance of staying one more year in the company was slim with the Lagos traffic and weather.
"I need to find another Job. Having a plan B will save me future heartbreak" Garba told his colleague at his workplace.
"I'm considering the same. The fact that he pays better than other companies makes the job threatening"
"Unfortunately I've not been able to save a penny, it's high time I started to save," Garba replied. They both laughed and soon resumed working.
A few days later Garba dropped applications in some companies that needed his kind of service and also started to find a suitable business he can venture into if no company hires him. He knew how hard getting a job is especially in a state where there were thousands of individuals who were unemployed applying for the same position. Since his first query, he was more careful not to resume late but traffic wasn't his friend. He was lucky a few times when he came in late to realize Hassan, his boss, wasn't in the office yet, but he knew it was a matter of time before he would be caught.
"I no longer find peace in this Job" Garba shared with his friend one fateful evening, "I don't need a job that expect perfection from their worker with no space for mistake"
"So what do you plan to do?" His friend asked.
"Start up a small business now that I can save"
"That's a good idea" his friend commented, " so do you have any in mind?" He asked Garba.
"None yet but I should be able to think of one before the end of this weekend"
"I'll suggest you apply for the position of an online data analyst. It'll save you all the stress of beating traffic and rain"
Garba pondered over what his friend had told him and that seemed like a good second option because of its convenience. This gave Garba confidence should he lose his job. He applied for the job online and after a few weeks of reviewing his application, he was hired. Even though it was stressful working both online and offline, he was rest assured that he had a plan B should incase his current job which was threatening fails.
The following week on a Monday morning, Garba had just entered the office when he saw Hassan waiting for him. He knew the worst had happened but he wasn't concerned as much because he knew he had a replacement.
"You're late again," Hassan started.
"It was the traffic, a lorry had fallen on the major road," Garba explained.
"News hold it that the lorry had fell on the road at 6 o'clock AM, if only you had left home earlier before 6"
Garba couldn't believe his boss, he closes by 9pm and gets home 11:30pm barely having time to make good food and get enough rest and he expected him to be out before 6am. He handed out a letter to him, Garba already knew it was a sack later. He was prepared for it, because his new job will give him enough time to do whatever he wants to do. He opened the letter and it read "What would you do if your plan A fails? Get a plan B right? I just hired my plan B and your service isn't needed any longer". With no worries, Garba smiled ,folded the letter and neatly placed it in his bag. What his boss didn't know is that they both had a plan B.