Yes. So everyone has a wish list. We can’t exactly tell what you have on yours. But Miss Dee has a wish list. On the list are two items. First, is a tablet. Not just any tablet too, but a recognizable one. She wants something like an iPad or a Samsung galaxy tab or notebook. She doesn’t want a brand like an ‘Ampe’ or ‘Onda’ or ‘Allfinez’ or ‘Voosoos’. No. Not those brands. She wants something classy. A tablet brand, that when she brings out, people will actually gather round her and admire her device. Yes. A tablet which will catch positive attention from people.
Also on her list is a car. Yes. A Nissan Versa. 2012 model. Colour: Black. It won’t too bad if it came straight from a showroom. But she will accept it, if it didn’t.
Yes..the dream car
It’s not as if Miss Dee is exactly rich. She is just a normal twenty year old with dreams and ambitions. She has started saving for the items on her wish list. But with the rate at which the money is trickling in, she is definite that she will not be getting the two items until about 10 or 20 years from now.
Miss Dee has wild imaginations too. She calls them ‘The Divine Connection’ Wild imaginations, as you may choose to call them. One of them is, sitting in a restaurant one day, somebody walking up to her and asking her what she wanted for Christmas. Miss Dee always imagines herself in that kind of situation. She will look up, smile at the ‘genie’ and reply, “An iPad or a Samsung Galaxy Tab will do just fine for me.” The ‘genie’ will also smile and reply, “Your wish is my command.”
Or maybe by some coincidence, she will meet one of those people who owned garages. Lets’ say she will meet a man or a woman who owned a garage. The person will just say to her, “Miss Dee, can you bring any amount of money you have and come for a Nissan Versa from my garage?” Miss Dee always imagines herself taking a ¢100 or $ 50.00 from her account and giving it to the garage owner in exchange for a Nissan versa. Cool deal, huh? Miss Dee is keeping her fingers crossed and believing that one or both connections or wild imaginations will come true.
Miss Dee just recalled a conversation she had with a colleague, who claimed a car was not on his wish list citing fuel cost and servicing charges as one of the reasons why he wouldn’t want to own a vehicle now. Miss Dee was quite amazed at his thought. As for her she wouldn’t mind at all. What are those charges when she is getting the car almost free? It wouldn’t hurt incurring those costs? Her car, she believes it’s going to be a gift. Period. She didn’t just get up one day, and started dreaming of owning a vehicle. She is just tired. She believes she has very valid reasons why she deserves a black Nissan Versa 2012 model for Christmas;
The popular buses or what we call ‘trotro’ in Ghana.
RESASON 1: She is just tired of hopping from one bus or ‘trotro’ to the other and the driver’s conductors getting too familiar with her. Miss Dee recalls a particular incident when one conductor or mate (as they are known in Ghana) smiled at her and asked, “How are you doing, Sweetie?” Miss Dee looked up and smiled, a little surprised, “And where are headed to? Are you not going to work today?” the bus conductor added. “Whaaaaaaat? He knows the route I use each day and he calls me sweetie too” the voice in Miss Dee’s head screamed. Just because she decided to change her route that morning does not mean the bus conductor should interrogate her. These bus conductors are getting too familiar with me, she thought to herself.
REASON 2: Miss Dee finds it very infuriating, when she boards a ‘trotro’ and a fellow passenger decides to put his noisy phone’s radio (most likely a Chinese product) on loud speaker forcing everyone else to listen to whatever he is listening to. And on most occasions it’s nothing better too. She recalls a particular incident when a young lady actually called to driver of the bus, “Driver, could you please turn down the volume of your radio because I am trying to listen to a programme here, on my phone?” Miss Dee will never forget the insults that were rained on this poor lady by fellow passengers, for the humble appeal this lady made to the driver. Like seriously, this lady too, the driver should turn down the volume just because you are trying to listen to whatever?
REASON 3: Have you ever sat in a bus when you simply want some peace, and all of a sudden, someone gets up in the front row to either conduct a church service or to sell some drug/medicine of a sort ? A particular incident which readily comes to Miss Dee’s mind was one morning when she boarded a bus. “I have here in my hand, some medicine. It can heal you of ear pains, head sores and injuries, cold, catarrh, sore throat etc. In fact every disease that affects ear, nose and throat.” The medicine man started nicely, “If you like, I have some samples here for everyone to try. You just have to sniff it, just a little and pass the rest round.” Miss Dee was amazed at how everyone in the bus decided to try this snuff of a drug, most likely because it was free. Can you guess the consequence? Everyone who tried the stuff sneezed. Not once, not twice, but several times. It was like a sneezing competition on the bus. Miss Dee was simply disgusted.
REASON 4: She is tired of the fights that go on in the buses, especially between drivers and their conductors(oh yes, they happen occasionally); drivers and other drivers; and bus conductors and passengers. The latter is the most common. Mostly because bus conductors or mates, are always finding ways and means of cheating or stealing from the passengers. They do not steal huge amounts too. Just a few coins here and there, and also delaying when it’s time for them to give you change. A tactic they have employed to enable passengers forget their change. Miss Dee still remembers that bus conductor in the orange bus with the inscription ‘Extra’ on the bonnet. Yes. That guy owes her 30 pesewas. He shouldn’t think she has forgotten, because she has vowed to take that change wherever she meets him.
REASON 5: Miss Dee remembers this incident too clearly. After standing in a queue for hours on a Monday morning, waiting for a vehicle, one rickety minivan appears. The passengers board it, including Miss Dee. Unfortunately, the driver decides to park at an unauthorized location. And when he was quizzed by the authorities of the lorry park, he decides to give them ‘nonsense’ as his response. The authorities at the station got infuriated by the reply given by the driver and asked everyone on board to get down from the vehicle including Miss Dee. The authorities of the station labeled the driver as, “a very rude and disrespectful driver who was well known for such behavior at the station.” No amount of pleading by the ‘elderly’ in the bus could make the authorities change their verdict. So what did the passengers do? They had no choice than to join the long queue again. Miss Dee at this point vowed to get her dream car this Christmas.
Miss Dee writes 