Mile-takers.

There are people who seem to enjoy taking others for a ride. You give them an inch, they take several miles. I doubt that anyone enjoys being cheated. Not even con artists. Why these people can't see that baffles me.

How do they even decide who to mess with? Is it that they have a radar that alerts them to their victims? Or do they not realise when they cross the line between asking for a favour and 'using' someone? Whatever happened to doing as you would like to be done to? Are people from particular countries prone to behaving this way than others?

You tell me.

At at a function the other day, I sat with a group of people from different African countries. Ever so often, the subject will touch on Nigerians and it appeared that the table were in agreement that Nigerians are arrogant and expert mile-takers.

I tried to understand the rationale behind it and attempted to make a case against generalisation quelling examples that flooded to my mind of when my fellow country men had taken miles instead of the inch on offer.

There was the time I was making an international trip, back when one was allowed 32kg per bag excluding hand luggage. All I had was a tiny bag and so when someone asked if I could help her take a few things I readily agreed. Well, she turned up to my house with 2 suitcases weighing 30kg each. Imagine!

There was also that person who expected me to ship a box of clothes for her when she learnt I was relocating and would be shipping some stuff. Arghh!

Anyway, back at this event, the people on my table readily backed their consensus with examples which led to this post.

As someone who recently began my writing business which includes rendering services like proof-reading/editing documents, typing,transcribing etc, I advertise myself everytime I have the opportunity.

I have a wide target including schools, students and specific organisations. I would usually cite past projects as well as the cost implications.

To my suprise, a few days ago, a Nigerian woman I know well, breezed into my house textbooks in hand with a college assignment brief, asking me not only to answer the questions for her, to type it including references as soon as possible and at no cost.

I don't know what disgusted me more. The fact that I had been asked or that I did not immediately decline. It took me the better part of a day to form my words of rejection.

It made me wonder, what drives these people? How come they have the audacity to make the requests? Why do we their victims grant any of them? Could it be the radar thing? Or that we, the victims, have the inability to say no in common? Are Nigerian expert mile-takers?

What do you think?