A DAY IN LIFE WITHOUT TECHNOLOGY

Dear diary,

"Buzz!!!..." I was so sure I heard the alarm ring in my sleep but I was mistaken. I was too tired to get up for work but it was Rakiya's voice that did the trick. "My friend, get up! Its 8:30 do you want to lose your job?!". I jumped up from the bed when I heard "job", I wasn't ready to visit the unemployment market just yet. I tried unlocking my phone to see the time for myself but it didn't come on. I was too late for work to even be bothered by the phone. I rushed to have my bath, jumped into my french gown, slipped into my flats and made way for the bus-stop. There was no time for my usual beauty routine (What's that saying about beauty being in the eyes of the beholder? Yeah, that was my motto for the day).

 

The queue at the bus-stop was a turn-off. I took one look at it and started walking to the office. On a good day, walking would get me to the office in 25 minutes but there I was at the office in 15 minutes. Luckily, Margaret Thatcher (my boss) had not yet arrived. I dropped my bag on my desk and quickly dashed to the back room to make an inventory of supplies from the previous day. I finished before the supplies for the day came in. I got back to my desk and my boss called me into her office. She wanted the report on supplies from the first quater of the year. Fortunately for me, I had already started work on the report so I went to get my laptop. The laptop refused to come on when I pressed the start button and that's when the coin dropped in my head. My phone did not unlock in the morning because the battery had drained and since PHCN had been acting up the last three days, I couldn't charge it. So here I was with a drained laptop and no charger. I didn't bother going back to her office because I was not ready for her tongue lashing. I stayed by my desk trying to scribble notes from my memory when she called me again. My heart skipped a beat.  I went in but this time she was with a guest.  She gave me some money and whispered something into my ear. I was relieved. She wanted me to buy lunch for her guest. Since it was lunch time at the office, I decided to kill two birds with one stone by going for my lunch break as well.

 

I placed my order at the restaurant and was waiting to be served when I saw le boo. I did the eye contact thing again and looked away. That had been my story the last two months. We never said anything to each other but whenever we saw each other at the restaurant, we made eye contact and that was it. I named him le boo when I started seeing him in my dreams. The food was served and it was only then that I realised how hungry I was. I couldn't help but imagine what would be trending on twitter. Surely someone must have tweeted a grammatical error and as usual it must have gone viral on the internet. Linda Ikeji must have posted a new gist on her blog about another celebrity that had bought a new car. As I was day dreaming, le boo walked up to my table and smiled. I was so shy that I couldn't even look at him. He asked for permission to join me at the table and I hurriedly agreed. We got talking and I laughed at everything he said. Looking back now, I don't think he was that funny maybe I was just too happy. I was still enjoying myself when Maria, my colleague at the office tapped my shoulder from behind and said, "where is your phone? Madam has been calling you since. She is shouting at the office, you better start running there." I stood up immediately and left the restaurant but not before I collected le boo's card. This was my second pot of soup for the day in the making and I wasn't ready for it. I got to the office and received all the insults doled out to me in good faith. I couldn't even explain to her that I left my phone at home because the battery had drained.

 

A sober me returned to my desk and just stared into space. I was through with my work for the day but with the 9-5 office rules in place, there was no way I could leave. I found some pieces of paper on the table and I started drawing. The drawing didn't make sense to me at first but when people started making good comments about it, my face lit up. Then I remembered high school and my love for the arts . Everything had changed now.

 

I was so engrossed in the drawing that I didn't realize evening had come. The cleaner was already locking up so I had to pack up and leave. Humming to myself, I walked home happily. I got home and Rakiya my flatmate had gone out as usual. PHCN was still acting up. Tired as I was, I jumped on my bed without changing my clothes. I wanted to sleep and forget the bad memories of the day. I was already dozing off when I felt rays of light on my eyelids. I opened my eyes and there was light! I started laughing. I laughed so hard my side ached. I had achieved the unimaginable, the unthinkable that day but I didn't realize it. I had gone a day in my life without technology. 😊