29/05/2023
May 28th Left us all speechless!
I decided to fulfill my promise of taking Uyiboy and his cousin out for swimming, to compensate for the children's Day outing that I missed.
Sadly, the weather became too cold for swimming that evening and we settled down for some peppered meat at an outdoor pool side. We struggled with the meat we were served as it was doused with too much pepper.
Next, my restless Uyiboy found a place to play games! He came to request for 500 naira to pay for games and I didn't have that in cash. I explained to him that I had only 200 naira and it was our emergency money that I'm not willing to let go. "Mum this money won't actually solve any emergency for us you know, so if we use it we find a way to get money from the machine"
He doesn't give up so easily! So, he tried negotiating and suggesting other options of payment to me but I wasn't willing to give him my debit card.
He went back to negotiate with the game organizers (some adults around the snooker and table tennis board) and returned to plead with me to sacrifice our 200naira emergency money because he has successfully negotiated and they agreed for him to bring 200 instead of 500. You'll hardly refuse this young man's perseverance if you truly have the means to grant his wishes.
This negotiation skill was learnt in the market according to Uyiboy. He buys some biscuits from a particular customer and sometimes he asks for two biscuits for 100 naira instead of 120. Some days he's lucky, other days he has to make another choice. But he says, you won't know they'll sell at that amount if you never attempt to bargain.! Wawu
Finally, I let go of my 200naira. I looked towards the games' direction and saw he chose to play chess with one adult. I quickly finished up and went to watch the game alongside some other guys who had left their snooker games to watch David and Goliath 😃.
I stood behind him and rubbed his head whenever he made a great move. The other big guys were also thrilled that they asked him. "Omo! Small boy how are you?" Uyiboy replied 7. You say? You keep this up, genius!"
When his opponent got frustrated, he surrendered and shook hands with Uyiboy, saying congratulations young man, we meet again!
Eureka! My 200 naira wasn't wasted at all!
Meanwhile, earlier on I got this note below. I'm encouraged to hit the stadium this morning. I'm encouraged to play more chess despite my busy work schedule.
Chess to more Eureka moments!
