Little Things we take for granted

I went to the bank yesterday to collect my BVN. By the way, if you are in Nigeria and you haven't registered for yours, please try to...plus, the crowd tryna get it done no be here o.

Anyway, I got my BVN in one bank where I registered and had to take it to another bank, to update my records. In this other bank, an old generation bank, I had to fill an update form and I burrowed a pen from a lady I saw in the banking hall. When I was done, I returned the pen (I find it a bit annoying when a person walks off with my pen at the bank. do you too?) and proceeded to submit my update form.

Then I heard a voice say "Nne, biko bia" (lady, please come) and I turned around. Another lady that looked like she was in her late 30s/ early 40s, beckoned on me to come to her. I did. Then she showed me her form and said "Kedu ebe ha n'ede date of birth n'ihe a" (where do they write date of birth on this thing). I looked at the form, found the slot and showed her. As i did, I looked at her face. I saw a look on her face that pulled at my heart. She was looking at the spot I had pointed at but from her face, I could tell that if I walked away at that moment, she would ask some else the same question she asked me because, even though, to me, the slot and instructions were very basic, she did not understand how to fill in her date of birth into the 8 little boxes on the form. 

I tried to explain to her where to put in the month, day and year, but then I realised that she got even more confused.

So I asked her "Ke m gbe ha muru gi?" (when were you born?) and I watched her count the day, month and year for about 2 minutes, before she could tell me, in a very shaky voice, "October one". I showed here were to fill in "01" then "10". I paused for her to tell me the year of her birth. When she didn't, I asked "Ke afo ha muru gi?" (what year were you born?) and I almost broke down. She didn't know. She stared at me...blank.

Then I asked "afo ole ka e bu?" (how old are you). She paused and said "33" (pronounced as taty tiri). I did the math and told her to fill in 1982. Then I told her "ha muru gi na 1982, october one". She smiled and said "thank you"...she said thank you in such a clear strong voice, I doubted for a second that it was the same person I had been talking to for the past 6 - 8 minutes.

As I went to submit my own form, I wondered about how I consistently take if for granted that I had enjoyed a good education. It is amazing how the little things make a huge difference...something as little as learning the days of the week and months of the year and simple arithmetic made a huge difference yesterday. I do not think it is fair to consider them so little. This lady I met didn't get that little thing. So many other people didn't get so many other 'little things'. 

Stay thankful for your lot in life.