He was already sweating in his brand new suit; he reached out to the handkerchief in his jacket and wiped sweat off his face. He checked his watch and it was already 7:00am.
The bus hasn't moved yet, there was serious traffic.
"Oga! Isn’t there another way round this traffic?" the man in suite asked.
"Na the only way be this, we no fit turn around even if another way dey," the driver replied.
Mr. Dan was rushing to his 30th interview in 6years. He has been distributing his CV to every job opening, ever since he graduated from school.
He has been turned down 29 times, but he never gave up. He believed that one day, he would be employed.
'Eleme junction' in Port Harcourt City is well known for its severe traffic condition especially on Oil mill market day - the worst day anyone can travel through Port Harcourt. It was quiet unfortunate that Dan's interview was schedule on such a day.
He lived downtown and for him to get to the interview venue in time, he left home very early to escape the day’s traffic but unfortunately, he was stuck in one.
Dan took off on foot, walked through the traffic and got another bus on the other side. The interview had already started when he arrived 15 minutes late but luckily for him, he was yet to be called.
Few minutes later, the secretary received a call and then, called out Dan's name for him to get ready to enter next into the interview room.
He jumped up, checked out his suit if it were in order. He quickly grabbed his file jacket and headed for the door.
Immediately he entered into the office, he started sweating profusely like someone who has seen a ghost. It was not because he was scared of the interviewer’s faces or the questions that they would likely asked him. He saw his former colleague as one of the interviewers.
Dan reached out to his handkerchief again and wiped sweat off his face. Then, he smile and became more confident that he would get the job, especially when his former colleague called him by his nickname.
After the interview, he was given the same message that was passed through to other applicants who came for the interview.
"We will get back to you as soon as possible."
He didn't leave immediately. He requested to have a word with his old time friend but the secretary wasn't kind enough to pass on the message. Instead, she asked him to drop his phone number.
Two days later, Dan got a call from his friend. He was glad that he finally called. The man fixed a meeting the next day with Dan at a popular bar around his neighbourhood.
That day, Dan was seated already at the bar when the man came in. He welcomed him gladly and the man ordered bottles of beer for them to enjoy like old times.
It was a big day for Dan. Most importantly, he was hoping to hear good news about the interview - of course his friend must have interceded for him for old time sake.
When he shot the question at his friend, he was disappointed at his response.
The man didn't answer the question the way Dan wanted it, instead, he asked him a question in return.
"What have you been doing all these years?"
"Applying for jobs!" Dan replied.
He opened up on how he has been turned down by several employees after several interviews. He said he had attended about 29 job interviews in 7years.
"Wow!" the man said.
"How many times have you been employed?"
"None, like I said, I was always being turned down. But now that I’ve seen you, I believe you will help me get one from where you work," Dan said.
He thought his friend was the manager of the company that invited him for interview.
Sadly, 32years old Dan collapsed from his seat and fainted when the man told him that the job he went for the interview had already been given to someone else even before the interview.
Dan turned a mile into a journey and was made to walk on broken glass for 7 years.
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First Published on www.cknotables.wordpress.com