Something happened last week and it took me a while to process it. It was an embarrassing day; my (re)actions were a big disappointment. If I could turn back the hand of time, I would definitely do things better.

It was on Saturday. I had a wedding ceremony to attend, and I also had a report to complete at work. So, after the church program, I went to the reception venue, took some pictures and went to the office to finish the report. I met my colleague who had been at the office all day working on the same report.

Around 7:30pm, we concluded work on the report and left for our homes. We took a bike to Mokola. I had my laptop bag and two polythene bags from the party containing coolers. My colleague had his laptop bag with him. To make the journey easier, I told the bike man to keep my laptop bag with him. Looking back, I should have given him the poly bags.

Well, we alighted at Mokola. Just in front of First Bank. My colleague brought out his wallet and paid the bike man. I took my laptop bag from the guy. It was light. My head sparked. I opened the bag and my fears were confirmed. Only my laptop charger was there.

“Ogbeni, where is my laptop?” He looked at me and laughed. This guy thinks I’m joking. “Oga, which laptop? I no see any laptop for here o.” My colleague was shocked. I was angry. I had not backed up the report. I had done some work on my upcoming book that I planned to send to my editor at night. With that anger, I did something I regret till now. I called him a thief. The police at the roundabout came around and were eager to arrest him.

I am ashamed to say this, but I didn’t care if he was arrested. I just wanted my laptop back.

As things got heated up, my colleague tapped me. He handed me his phone. It was the facility manager from the office. My laptop was on my seat. I gulped. My eyes shifted to the bike man who was being rough handled by the police.

“I’m sorry.” I said, with the growing mob shouting at me. Never had I been more embarrassed.

……

Ire: A Few years ago, with the class quiet as everyone worked on the Mathematics question, I shouted at my classmate and accused him of taking the maths set I was using without asking for permission. I told him to go and get his own if he knew he needed one or at least ask before taking.

I can’t remember exactly how it happened, but it turned that it was actually his maths set that he was using and it was coincidental that it was the same type as my friend’s one that I had borrowed.

Though I apologized, he told me to keep quiet and rightly so. I had made the mistake of jumping to conclusion and making an accusation without ascertaining the facts. It is something that I regret.

That event was part of what inspired my fictional story. It is to remind us to first turn the spotlight on ourselves when things go wrong. Before we point fingers at others, we should be sure that we are not the culprits. Even when we are sure that someone else is at fault, we should correct in love.

“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” – Colossians 3:13

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