I coincidentally became a joker.

Source

Staying too much in the traffic is one thing you must be used to if you are a Lagosians, the impact it has on our mental health is something else. I usually have lots of good and bad experiences

I remember how tired I use to get when returning home from work, music and fresh air kept me alive then, I don't get on the bus when the seats by the window sides are occupied; that has been a tradition for me.

On that day, we were stuck in traffic as usual even though I left work earlier than the closing time. We spent almost 2hrs on a distance we should cover in less than 35 minutes, I was so tired sitting on the bus. Music wasn't working that day and the bus was so tight due to the overloading of passengers, I kept my eye outside the bus trying to keep myself alive.

We were at a particular bus stop where pickpockets operate a lot, I was still thinking about an experience I had at that same spot when I noticed two thugs fighting and some thugs were trying to stop them. I concentrated on them and suddenly noticed that they were trying to remove something from the bag of the cooperate guy who was trying to stop them. The guy looked different, he had a shirt and trousers on, and he was carrying a laptop bag.

He looked like a gentleman who was just seeking peace but they wanted to take advantage of him, I guess he was a johnny just come as my fellow Nigerians would refer to someone new in an environment.

Immediately I concluded that the fight wasn't real, they were trying to distract the guy so that they can steal from him. I felt uneasy and told the guy sitting in my front, I started screaming at the top of my voice to tell the guy someone was trying to remove something from his pocket but he didn't hear.

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The noise from the stagnant vehicles' horns wouldn't even allow him to hear, the people on the bus asked and I told them what happened. Everyone joined me in screaming since the guy who removed the phone was still there, we eventually got his attention and told him that the shirtless guy had removed his phone.

Immediately they all started laughing, we didn't understand what was wrong and I felt pissed at first but ended up smiling just to hide my anger. I was really trying to help and you guys are making fun out of that, it looks weird to me.

Source

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Those guys were actually recording a comedy skit, the problem I had was that I was too focused on those guys and didn't pay attention to the camera placed some steps away from the scene. It was a complete laughing galore on the bus, the guy came to say thank you from the window but I still felt I could have just minded my business.

Everyone on the bus joked and laughed about what happened, I didn't feel good about the joke because I was in the center of everything.

On arriving home late and tired, I told my brother about the experience and he laughed as well. I looked at the story from the angle of not being involved, I ended up laughing because I was screaming at the top of my voice to catch a thief that didn't even exist. I just concluded that it is one of the effects of Lagos stress on my mental health.