Lost Content, Broken Vehicles, and Human Nature

Have you ever experienced the frustration of writing a blog post, only to accidentally delete it before posting it on your main blog page? That’s exactly what happened to me. After putting in so much effort, I somehow clicked "delete," and it was gone. I felt terrible; like all my hard work had been wasted. But there was nothing I could do except accept that it had happened and move on.

The deleted post was about a recent trip to attend a burial, an experience that was far from pleasant. The journey itself was a nightmare. On the way there, we faced horrible road conditions. Potholes littered the roads as some of them were so deep they resembled pits rather than simple holes on a government road. What should have been a four-hour journey ended up taking seven hours.

The return trip was even worse. Less than twenty minutes after we left, it started raining heavily. The downpour was so intense that we had to stop several times. When we reached a part of the road notorious for its potholes, the rain had already flooded everything, making the road difficult to navigate. Vehicles, including ours, got damaged as drivers tried to maneuver through the water-filled potholes.

Our car broke down, and we had no choice but to push it to a slightly safer spot. It was a narrow and dangerous stretch of road, known to be a hideout for criminals, including kidnappers and armed robbers. We stopped at a relatively safer area by the roadside because everyone was exhausted.

During the journey, I learned an important lesson about human nature. When things go wrong, we are quick to point fingers and place blame. Some of my colleagues began to regret embarking on the trip at all, questioning if the event was worth the stress we endured. Others blamed the driver for bringing a vehicle with battery problems on such a long journey. There was a lot of grumbling, but in the end, we decided to keep pushing the bus until we found a secure spot to leave it overnight, hoping to continue the journey the next day.

One of our group members chose to leave and catch another vehicle immediately. Meanwhile, we managed to convince a truck driver to tow our vehicle. He agreed, but the price he demanded was high. With no better options, we reluctantly paid him. The truck driver, however, was careless and drove too fast, despite towing our damaged vehicle. One of us decided to sit with him in the truck, helping him navigate and ensuring a safer journey.

By the time the truck finally towed our car to a nearby bus stop, it was already midnight. We couldn’t find any buses or cars to continue the trip, so we called a staff member who hadn’t attended the burial, asking for help. In the meantime, we had to find a nearby motel to rest for the night.

It was a challenging experience, but it taught me a lot about patience, teamwork, and human behavior under pressure.