Michael repeatedly hitting the van horn while we were stuck in traffic started irritating me at a point. I knew he was under pressure, but there was nothing he could do to beat Lagos traffic, especially on Friday evenings. To make things worse, it was the last day of the month, and the roads were extra busy.
"You might want to stop beating the horn because it won't change anything," I said to Michael, putting on a smile just to make him feel at ease.
"You won't understand how I am feeling right now. My job is on the line," He replied, shaking his head vigorously.
"I understand, but putting yourself under pressure won't change anything. Let's just be positive," I replied.
Michael stretched his head out through the van window to see what was happening ahead and finally alighted from the van a few minutes later.
"Let me see what's happening ahead," He stuttered while shutting the door.
He tried hiding his worries, but they were all boldly written all over his face.
I have been under such pressure before and can tell that he was struggling with the different kinds of stress.
Being the last day of the month, our sales account for the month must be closed, and all cash must be deposited in the bank. Luckily for me, I was able to close my team account on Friday morning.
We met our target, and my boss was really happy about it. Michael's case was completely different, and being on probation for the past two months didn't make things easy.
He barely did 60% of his monthly target, and truly, his job was on the line. I got his call at noon on Friday, and after explaining his situation, I saw the need to get involved because he is a good colleague. He needed distributors that could push him to at least 80%, so we hit the road immediately.
We were able to do some huge figures before evening, and we had just one more supply to do. Although it would barely save him but it was better than 60%.
"I can maneuver between those vehicles," Michael said immediately as he returned to the van.
"Are you serious? This is a sales van," I reminded him.
"If I go through the next two streets, we can beat the accident. It's possible" Michael replied, turning on the vehicle ignition.
He moved the van trying to fit into the small space between the car in front and the gutter on the last lane.
"This is past 4 pm already, and our chances of meeting up are slims, so don't complicate things. Let's just wait," I persuaded him, but Michael had made up his mind.
He kept going back and forth, trying to manage space until we heard a crash sound from the back.
I took a glance at the side mirror but couldn't see what he crashed into from my side, and before I could say anything, Michael jumped out of the van.
I carried my bag and did the same thing. Upon seeing the damage he caused, I couldn't stop shaking my head.
"This is a disaster," I stuttered, staring at the Toyota Venza broken headlight.
The owner of the vehicle that had already alighted was screaming at the top of his voice, and Michael was more troubled than he was earlier.
"Please calm down, sir. It was a mistake, and I take full responsibility," He apologized.
"Just fix my light," The man replied, and Michael started making calls.
The man reached for his phone and started making calls too. Other drivers stuck in traffic started interfering, and I wish Michael had listened.
We were still settling the issue when the traffic eased and vehicles started going slowly. We drove into a gas station, where the case was eventually settled after about 30 minutes.
Michael incurred a huge loss, and we couldn't continue with the trip because it would still take about an hour to our destination and the distributor must have closed before we get there.
I watched him call a lady hawking water. He got two sachets and emptied them on his head at a go.
"There must be someone you can talk to," I asked while thinking of what next.
"Just Mr. Jude, my area manager and I doubt if he will help at this dire minute," He replied.
"You can't be too sure," I replied, encouraging him to make the call.
Michael hesitated for some minutes and eventually decided to call Mr. Jude.
I noticed he was smiling as the conversation was ending about ten minutes later and that's definitely good news.
"You won't believe I was able to convince him and he told me to bring the stock to the office before 6 pm as collateral. He would help me pay the money I need so when I sell the stock tomorrow, I can refund immediately. I am left with convincing my sales manager to accept my progress this month," He broke the news to me.
"That's awesome, and I believe your sales manager won't be too mad. At least you made significant progress," I replied.
I was excited and happy for him because only God knows his fate if he doesn't get the help.
"George, let's rush down to the office. The road back should be free," He replied, feeling excited.
"Which office? This is the road to my area," I replied.
"Oh, that's true. Thanks man for everything," He replied, hugging me before hopping into the van.
I watched him drive off before boarding a bus and was happy that Mr. Jude agreed to help.
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Very stressful situations can make anyone's day more complicated. At such times, you have to keep a cool head and not get carried away by emotions that can make things worse. Luckily, you were there to calm your friend down and help him find solutions that ended well despite everything.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Good day.
Days like that are inevitable sometimes and how we handle things in terms of controlling our emotions matters a lot. It's always tough but it's a must to handle things properly else we will only add more troubles to what we have already.
I always get stressed when I see people stressed. It's a weakness of mine. And if people drive stressed, it scares the hell out of me. Thank goodness it was a small accident and everything ended well. Regards
I felt really bothered too and just had to stand by him. His lack of patience was the only problem and if not, the accident wouldn't have happened.
I am glad things worked too... Cheers.
Lucky Micheal. My heart skipped when I read about the crash on the Toyota Venza. Hehe. Only if he had listened. But at times some disappointments tend to be a blessing in disguise.
I thought about it while writing the post as well. If the crash hadn't happened, we wouldn't have thought about reaching out for help which eventually saved Michael's job.
What a close call. Thank God everything worked out for everyone at the end. Interesting wrote up. Keep it up
We were all glad things worked out even though Michael paid a huge price for his impatience.
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Nice story
Luck was on Michael's side,it would have been a different story.
Honestly, he was lucky because when I was in that situation as a new employee, there was no one I could run to. I had to settle things myself the harsh way.
Luckily Jude's job was saved
Yeah, he was really lucky.
When you are under pressure to beat a deadline or deliver on something, the stress is usually unexplainable until you're able to calm down. Thank God that Michael got some relief from making that call to Mr. Jude.