Traffic or no traffic?
On how humans are insatiable, Danfo drivers and their stunts and why Asians are usually better in maths compared to their counterparts.
Heyy guys! How are you doing? I would have said the usual “I’m doing fine” but I’m not even sure I am. I have had a really really crazy week, and I fear next week would be worse (well, there goes my optimism). As I write this, I have a lot of pending tasks I am supposed to magically finish, and I am not sure I am in the best state of mind. But this is me showing up because agenda must agend.
During the week, my mind constantly would drift off to think of ideas I could write on, so I don’t spend hoursss staring at my computer screen thinking of what to write (time is money, you know? and even more expensive these days). So I figured, why not write about my experience what my experience with some passengers has taught me.
If you know Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, then you know it’s synonymous with traffic. If you have an important interview or an exam to write the next day, you might have to find a place to stay a day before that would not require you to pass that route, and if you leave home as early as 4:30 am, I cannot assure you of getting to your interview on time. That is how bad and unpredictable it is! To beat the traffic, some woke drivers would have to go through a route that is really rough and might be filled with water if there is a heavy downpour.
So I boarded a bus home and to beat the traffic that might happen at the Long Bridge, the driver took the rough route. To paint a picture of the scenario, the two routes are intervisible from each other. So if you’re on the bridge, you can tell if there is/isn’t traffic on route B, and vice versa. Also, if you decide to go through route A (the bridge) and you discover there is traffic mid-way, you can not switch to route B because the roads are not connected, and vice versa. They are parallel lines, literally. So deciding to take a particular route is like taking a big risk.
The night before, there had been terrible traffic on route A and knowing the nature of the traffic, it can last till the next day. Hence, the driver’s decision to go with route B. Everyone was happy with the decision, I mean, nobody was ready to sleep in traffic that evening. Midway into rough route B, we didn’t see any signs of traffic on smooth route A. This was where the problem started.
The passengers that once commended the driver on taking the taking route B now started complaining we should have just passed the bridge. See now, no traffic at all or I don’t know why this driver passed this rough place, we would have gotten to our destination by now or Iru ki leleyi bayi (meaning what kind of problem is this) etc. The driver, as you would expect a typical Nigerian Danfo driver, suddenly forgot how to speak. He just kept mute throughout the complaints.
We then got to a point and found out there was actually traffic as formerly predicted! Now, what did the passengers do? they changed the narrative completely. Olorun lo ni pe a gba ibi o (meaning thank God we passed here), So traffic dey for this road sef, nawa o etc. Some passengers were still stood their ground and insisted we would have gone for route A, but there was no going back anymore.
This scenario made me realize how insatiable humans can be. Secondary school Economics would say, Human wants are insatiable. I never liked the subject but that one sentence stuck somehow. This relates to not only material wants but also in our everyday life. As humans, it is almost impossible to meet ALL our desires/wants. At some point, these unlimited desires or wants keeps changing and it would feel like you’re literally running to catch up. While there is a difference between wants and needs, it is important to know where to draw the line and prioritize needs over wants.
As promised, this is my takeaway from my monthly read Outliers: The secret of success by Malcolm Gladwell.
Asians are naturally better in maths because of their culture and language (this explains why most maths-related tutorials on YouTube are done by Indians hehe). Why is this so? Their language has made it really easy to understand mathematics. In China, two-third is pronounced out of three, remove two literally, and numbers like 48 is pronounced four-tens-eight. This makes it easier for them to understand and relate to mathematics even at a very young age compared to their American counterparts.
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I wish you a bright and productive week ahead!
Yosola.
Thoroughly enjoyed this newsletter, as always!!!
Welldone and thamks for sharing the tip from the book you're reading🤗 Looking forward to more.
Yoruba people sha😂