Proximity & Accessibility

There's nothing I love more than an accessible proximity. All the while I sought a job, I never thought about the filling station a few paces away from my house. I didn't want a salesperson's job, maybe that's why I never even considered it. I wanted to arrange accounts, I was so good at explaining where the money went that I was made welfare coordinator almost everywhere I went.

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When I had looked and looked and no job seemed to be forthcoming, I decided to try the places around me. That decision made out of frustration has proven to be the best one I've made this year.

Even when I checked for vacancies on my street and around my vicinity, I didn't walk up to the petrol station. I went to a gas station first, and they said they didn't have a vacancy so I went to the schools around. There was nothing I disliked more than teaching but since there were barely any options left, I decided to try my luck.

Two schools did not need staff and the last one offered to pay 25,000 every month. If the job couldn't pay at least 40,000 then it was not useful to me. Thankfully I wasn't paying house rent, my father gave me one of his apartments for rent to stay in till I could find my feet. I just needed a job to help me pay my bills and eat.

At the end of my job hunt, only the petrol station was left and since I was frustrated already, I decided to give it a try. If they said no, it would be like the other “nos” I had already received.

The day I dropped my application letter, the manager told me they didn't need more workers as the ones they had were fairly new but he had a connection somewhere he thought would be okay for me. Just like that he put in a recommendation to his former place of work and asked me to walk to the next street and submit the recommendation letter.

The very next week, I was called over for the job.

The salary was not as much as I wanted but it was just a 10-minute walk from my house and since transport was off my list, I decided that it was something I could manage.

That was the best choice I ever made. My parents kicked against it saying that petrol stations wouldn't give me the time I needed to prepare for my international exams but since I needed a means of survival, I insisted that I would do it. After all if everything went well, I had just 4 months until my exams.

When I began to work at that petrol station, I realized that I could take on both morning and night shifts because my house was just a stone's throw away. Because I was the only one who agreed to go on the night shift, I was paid extra money for my trouble, if only my boss knew it was no trouble at all.

Every single day, I was being praised for my bravery and loyalty to the company and whenever the manager came around, he made sure to tip me before he left. So I didn't just find a job that saved me from the stress of having to spend heavily on transport like my colleagues, I found a job that favored me financially.

Two months after I resumed work, my manager called all the staff and said they would soon be transferring some of us to the branch at a different location. That one was a new branch and they needed staff who knew the ropes there.

I walked up to the manager after the briefing and asked if he could disclose the people who were going to be transferred so I would know exactly what was going on but he shook his head from side to side saying he was not allowed to disclose such information.

I have enjoyed working at the petrol station because as lowly as such a job looks, I have made more money from it than I believed anyone could make, especially because my house was just behind the place. I have met with so many people who I have formed acquaintances with and I have learned the ropes of being a salesperson, but if I am being transferred to a different location, it would become difficult for me to survive like I have been surviving.

First, it would mean that I have to stop the night job because it would be too dangerous, and then I would begin to pay for transportation to the new location. The job would be of no benefit to me then.

I hope that I am not asked to be transferred because if they do, I might just have to say goodbye to the job.