Driver Owa! (a tale of a shy passenger)

I used to think that I started working on not being an introvert when I first left home for school, but then I saw a relatable post on the internet the other day that not only put a smile on my face but also brought back some old memories of when I was scared to do certain things because I was an introvert and didn't want to draw attention to myself.

_{Photo by sheyi owolabi}

You see, in the state where I currently reside, the approved vehicle used for public transportation is a tiny mini bus that can only fit about six people at the back and one other passenger in front riding shotgun, unlike other states like Lagos state where there are vehicles that could fit more than ten to thirty people, depending on how long it is.

I hated those kind of vehicles back in the day because aside from the fact that the drivers are always greedy and tend to carry more passengers than they should, there's another problem people like me face when left in such vehicles. You see, unlike some of your countries where you get to pull on something whenever you get to your bus-stop to indicate to the driver that you would like to get off the vehicle, we don't have such things here.

So whenever we get to our destination and we wanted to tell the driver to stop, we mostly yell out "Driver owa" which I guess it's yoruba language for "Driver, stop me here" or something like that. Now to an average Nigerian who has lived in the country all his life, that is pretty much something that is easy to do, well not for me, especially if I'm seated all the way at the back of the bus.

I remember when I first started going to places myself (without being escorted by my siblings or parents), I always got lucky whenever the bus was getting to my bus-stop because there was always someone dropping off there too, so they would shout "Owa" and just as the bus stops for them, I would jump out too, but there was a day where I didn't get so lucky.

I had sat in the bus hoping and waiting for someone to indicate to the driver that they would be coming off at my bus-stop but to my disappointment, no one said anything and instead of me to take that as a sign to be a man and actually speak up, I sat there like a wet chicken and watched as the driver drove past my bus-stop, luckily for me, someone had dropped at the next bus stop and I had followed them down and walked all the way back.

Of course I haven't told anyone this story because they would laugh at me, I know I would if it happened to any of my siblings but thankfully, as time went on, I began to gather courage and at first I started by always making sure to sit right next to the driver so I don't have to shout for him to hear me, therefore drawing every one else's attention to me, but it didn't take long for me to realize that this was Lagos and no one really cared about silly things like that and before I knew it, I found myself becoming a proper Lagos boy, screaming "Driver Owa!" here and there.