6th March, 2013 - (arguably) the worst day of my life

Today was the worst day of my life. I will never forget it because it was also March 6th. The birthday of one of my favoritest things - Ghana. Late last night, after Manchester United had been bundled out of the Champions League by Cuymet Cakir, former employee Cristiano Ronaldo and almost hire Luka Modric, I was disappointed. The next day was a holiday, I just wanted to go home and listen to some happy music, think about happy things and figure out getting my internet to work so I could enjoy a holiday at home. It would be Ghana's 56th birthday and I would write this blog post. But the events of today have caused me to write this one too. The worst day of my life.

I started 6th March by arriving at the Accra Sports Stadium to attend the Chris Brown Hope City Concert, sponsored or paid for by RLG. Yeap, the one in which RLG paid Chris Brown $1million for. The concert that was to help launch the $10billion technology city that would be completed in 3 years near Kasoa. Roland Agambire has some guts, that guy. I wasn't going to pay to see Chris Brown, and I was ever going to go, I wouldn't pay. A couple of friends I was with wanted to go so I went along, still leaving an option of leaving them there and going home. But to go home to what? When it's a holiday? When I could enter for free and see my brother's lookalike's face? Let's stick with the team here. #PartyCrewGh.

I met an RLG employee and we had some discussions around how much Chris Brown was being paid, and the new RLG Uhuru tablet PC. "RLG can do with its money as it pleases". Hear hear. But if RLG is going to go around saying "Proudly yours", "yours truly" will always have something to say. We eventually got to enter for free (not courtesy this RLG employee) and we ended up in the VIP. Because we know people. I don't socialize for nothing. It was after we were sharing the same space with those who paid 100GhC that I realized I had lost items that cost way much more than 100GhC. I had been pickpocketed! My wallet was gone, with my bank cards and IDs. The 'rented' phone I was using to whatsapp and twitter was gone too! Wow!

How was I going to find the pick-pocket in a stadium of "how-many-ever-people-it-was-needed-for-RLG-to-break-even people"? All I remember from the concert now was Chris Brown singing "I want it all back" and "With You", him encouraging people to smoke weed, his dancing Azonto, R2Bees performing, Efya dancing and Samini making us remincise. But no p. I'm bullish that I shall get these items - wallet contents and phone (+phone number) back. Because that's just how I operate. Is the pick-pocket on Facebook? You tell me. I'm already hatching plans to catch him (lol)

If I don't get them back, I'm sure I will be fine. We have to do something about crime in Ghana. This experience will cause me to action.
I managed to sleep soundly and woke up at 10am hoping my internet would be working after I had sent one of those emails that makes things magically work at Vodafone before my phone was bosted. It wasn't working so I headed to the Vodafone cafe (yea, Rosalyn, it's me) where I was told my credit/cycle had run out. My last payment was 29th December. Had I managed to enjoy a 2 month period of internet where we all normally pay monthly? No. Vodafone's broadband service has been misfiring so much I can't tell for how many days I had possession of internet. And the system the Vodafone cafes use for customer service can't either. Fix your system, Dodofone! Yes, I went there. The lady asked me to pay so that I could get the internet back and she'd see to it that I got some extra days. Screw that. I'd rather make sure my pound of flesh is gotten before Dodofone gets another pesewa from me. Or, use Tigo's unlimited internet for 40GhC a month first. Yes, it exists.

I left for the Meltwater Incubator to hang out there, check up on work, etc on the internet. I participated in a great #FiestaDebate where we discussed "Should ethnicity matter in relationships (in Ghana)?". It was moderated by @GhanaThink and sponsored by @FiestaCondomsGh. You'll want more? Follow @GhanaThink for the next ones. My friend Donald alerted me that my DodoVodafone internet was back, so I was gonna hurry home to enjoy it and join a GhanaThink Foundation meeting. That's when I tried to spark my car and... yeah, when it rains, it pours. When it warms, it gets hot. The ignition wouldn't key as if R Kelly .... okay, I'll leave him alone.

Jump-starting the car failed. Battery change failed. Kicking and screaming, not me. I am the coolest dude under pressure. I headed home, joined and had a fruitful meeting with Donald, Kwamena, Nehemiah, Seyram and David. The internet was and is still working. It seems that email I sent worked wonders eh? Hmm, until Dodofone comes up with some unannounced charges. Donald handed some Unity Concert tickets to us to continue the night #partycrew style. Another Accra Sports Stadium concert? If I went, they wouldn't have anything to steal from me today anyway . My mechanic joined me to MInc where he eventually got the #vimride to start but said it might cause further problems for me if I went to the Unity Concert. That's when I made the decision to stay at home and get started on this blog post.

My remedy for today's troubles? Eat a lot of food. I've had chicken, rice with garden egg (and okro) stew, rice with tuna & vegetable stew, apple juice, mixed fruit juice, coke, etc. Not coke o! Coke! I didn't get inspired to take hard drugs after Chris Brown encouraged concert goers to "smoke weed" earlier that day and did it on stage. And all the Ashanti mothers said, "ALlerGy!".  I just tried calling my phone number. "The number you are calling cannot be reached". Turns out someone used my Bank of America card for fraudulent activity, not today but on February 19. Wait, that's when I was in Lagos! Hmm! They used it to buy some music stuff at ableton.com. I'm gonna get to the bottom of this. I'm bummed out. I'm bottomed out. How could this happen to me in the country I love so much? Was today really the worst day of my life? It's quite close. Tomorrow will not get any worse. And the years to come will conclusively awesome than those before. Just because. #Morevim!

Comments

Edward Tagoe said…
Sorry to hear about this. There is so much a man can take. I would have gone Gaga with all these bad news in 24 hours. I've had a similar experience and I nearly went mad.....I mean it, I nearly went mad!
Ato said…
Chale, do you mean mad mad? Seems you came out of it well well :-) Any lessons you can share with me? Because the dust hasn't cleared yet for me. :-(
Unknown said…
What an experience. This is what makes your head spin... Can't imagine a few moments without my phone. Sorry, better days ahead and yes, it made you get a cool blog post from the experience.
Enock said…
Sorry, this was a great experience. Guess you are still thinking of it.
Seriously speaking, crime in Ghana is now everywhere, even in the Church. We need to guard against these things. Hmm God help us.
Ato said…
Yes o, I did get a cool blog spot. I realized that I have to come share some better good stories too. I can feel one coming, which is take-2 on this experience. :-)

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