WASTED LIFE

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All men are born equal, and whatever any man gets to make of himself later on is a function of his decisions and actions. This is the popular belief by society as Tony had been made to also believe. But Tony knew that this cannot be true as his situation has proven contrary to the general belief. He had been born into an abjectively poor family. An only child of peasant farmers who fell in love on the whims of village infatuation, and believed that love conquereth all things. But theirs could not conquer their abjection.

All through his life he's wallowed in penury, toiling and struggling through life and taking any crumbs that filtered into his possession. His life was like a ship sitting in the docks and being beaten by the billows without ever setting sail. Here he was, a man who has tried his utmost to make something out of his life since he was a child. After being orphaned at a very tender age, he has had to work for everything he needed and ever wanted. He has struggled to sponsor himself through school, thinking that will be his password to a better life, but then how wrong he was. A graduate with second class upper honors who has still not been good enough for any employers.

"What more can I do to get a better life?" he thought as he surveyed his surroundings, a forlorn one bedroom, the only quality which he could afford. The draperies hanging loosely from a rope tired to a nail in the wall as if tired of existence. A small 3 inches mattress that has exhausted its durability, which he bought from a secondary school who were getting rid of old mattresses in order to make space for new ones. There was a small table by the window which he constructed himself with pieces of plank he got from a building site.

The floor was a concrete floor with small holes all over as if in a bid to mock his inability to afford a carpet. At that moment, he felt imprisoned and dejected.
He had just received another letter from his schoolmate intimating him about the latest opening in the ministry. This isn't the first time Terry has reached out with job opportunities to help his friend, but it never turned out to be any good as all the interviews he'd attended before now had all been mere formalities as those jobs were given to 'godsons' and 'big men's' cronies. What would make this one any better, especially since it was from a federal government parastatal.

He had no money to even go for the interview, but Terry had admonished that he not miss it no matter what. He had even sent him some money to help with his transport fare to the interview.

The day of the interview came and Tony put on his only jacket, what he usually called 'my professional interview attire', and left for the interview. Upon getting to the venue, as usual, there was an army of youths just like him, some even looking better than him. "Business as usual" he thought, "two hundred applicants for about five vacancies". Again he was discouraged and had gone home if not that he had promised Terry that he'll do the interview.

Name after name was called with females given particular preference as if being male was a disadvantage. Time was running out and his stomach was,"I would've just used this transport fare to eat today, at least it would've been better than coming to waste my time here". Few more people were invited before the secretary came out to announce that those remaining were to come back the following day for their interview. Tony out of disappoint stood up to leave even before the secretary could finish her message. Just then he heard his name called by the secretary as the last person to be interviewed for the day before bidding others farewell.

Two weeks after the interview Tony was about to return to the village to continue in his father's legacy as a farmer. "I guess this is my fate" he thought as he was about to leave when a mail arrived his door with his appointment letter from the ministry, mandating him to start work immediately.

Noticing the pay package on the mail, tears trickled down Tony's cheeks and at that moment, he realized that his life has finally left the docks and startet sailing for the better.