My friend started a business, where
he sells shawarma, it doubles as a
night spot, with that as the main
attraction.
The day I found out, I was happy
for him, because this dream had
been in the pipelines for a long
time, you know those audio dreams,
we hear about them but don’t
actually see? .. Yeah..the one!
That day, I bumped into his spot
while taking a walk and I was so
impressed, I turned back home to
get enough cash to patronize him.
Later in the night, I was talking to
someone on whatsapp and
mentioned the event. He asked
what it was like and I was frank
when I told him I wasn’t impressed.
Like, I didn’t get my money’s worth
– it was subpar and overpriced – I
live on the outskirts of town, it’s
very common to see things
overpriced and below quality
around here.
He told me to lay a complaint with
my friend who had the business,
and I told him
“ that’s not the way it works around
here… The best I can do is never
patronize again.”
If this comes off as mean, my
apologies, but I tell you, you can’t
put criticism and a Nigerian in the
same room. Nah, you’re either a
busy body or plain jealous.
Several days later, another of my
friends came back from a trip and
few of us went out to chill and that
was the only spot around. Everyone
was wary of the shawarma and
were pointing out what was wrong
with it – nobody wanted to spend
that much money on it. Someone
offered to buy the sample, the test
run, to see if it had improved since
the last time.
Imagine our surprise when the
price had been bumped up in a
matter of weeks, with no visible
improvement. Then, I had to speak
to him about it.
First of all, I could count the pieces
of beef and the bread was stiff and
breaking in places- an aberration,
secondly the size was not
impressive for the price, and third,
it was above the price of one of
the best spots in the city. This
latter place got this title by
delivering quality and managing to
sustain prices with only a slight
increase, despite the inflation.
I told him, he could not put his
product at a higher price than his
competition that was better at it
than him.
He argued that he was the best
and none could compare to him.
Secondly, because we lived on the
outskirts of town, people would
rather manage his than go a far
distance to get quality.
I rolled my eyes. He hadn’t come
to terms with the fact that people
can walk the ends of the earth just
to get their maximum satisfaction.
The conversation ended on a
peaceful note – I just let him talk
and extol the virtues of his
business. He wasn’t going to listen,
and I knew I wasn’t coming back,
the people around knew they were
not coming back too, so to each
their own.
Next time, I’ll mind my business.
