The rustling of the curtains at my window woke me up. I opened my eyes to see rays of beautiful sunlight peeping through my window. I smiled and rushed to the window. Closing my eyes, I took in a deep breath. As I sucked in the morning air through my nostrils the smile on my face began to fade and the skin on my forehead creased to form a frown. With an immediate and agonizing force I expelled the air sharply hoping and praying it had not contaminated my body or mind. I believed that a good conscious intake of fresh air in the mornings was important in starting a good day. A minute passed and I was still expelling the horrible stench out of my nostrils. I didn’t bother to find out the source of the stench, I knew the answer would find me, after all this was Lagos.
With annoyance I got ready for work. As I stepped outside, I was comforted to notice that people covered their noses. Since I started my day with a bad start I didn’t want to share the feeling alone. As I stood by the road side waiting for a cab to come my way, a lady standing close to me said “people are saying it’s the mortuary down the road. They have not had power for a while now” This meant that human bodies kept in there were decaying and polluting the air and nothing was being done about it. I was upset. I felt ashamed because I had come to the conclusion that it was either the open refuse dump not too far from my house that smelled or a truck carrying tons of fish had an accident. Never did it cross my mind that Human bodies were being robbed of dignity - no respect in death. As I stood pondering why our system was too poor or broken to accord people gone before us with respect. I wondered if I died whether my body would be left to bloat, decay and abuse the senses of mankind or not. I shivered, not of cold but of fear of what was to come.
As I pondered and sighed, the hooting of a horn startled me. A colleague was hollering at me to enter the car. I entered into his vehicle and shut the door. The windows were wound up and breeze from the air conditioning system attacked me. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. I exhaled gentle and smiled. I was going to have a good day after all.
With annoyance I got ready for work. As I stepped outside, I was comforted to notice that people covered their noses. Since I started my day with a bad start I didn’t want to share the feeling alone. As I stood by the road side waiting for a cab to come my way, a lady standing close to me said “people are saying it’s the mortuary down the road. They have not had power for a while now” This meant that human bodies kept in there were decaying and polluting the air and nothing was being done about it. I was upset. I felt ashamed because I had come to the conclusion that it was either the open refuse dump not too far from my house that smelled or a truck carrying tons of fish had an accident. Never did it cross my mind that Human bodies were being robbed of dignity - no respect in death. As I stood pondering why our system was too poor or broken to accord people gone before us with respect. I wondered if I died whether my body would be left to bloat, decay and abuse the senses of mankind or not. I shivered, not of cold but of fear of what was to come.
As I pondered and sighed, the hooting of a horn startled me. A colleague was hollering at me to enter the car. I entered into his vehicle and shut the door. The windows were wound up and breeze from the air conditioning system attacked me. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. I exhaled gentle and smiled. I was going to have a good day after all.
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