The Search

She walked into the premises where the construction of a massive building was taking place. She looked around and saw some of the construction workers passing by her with bowls of cement on their heads. They all looked dusty and their feet were caked with a mix of sand and cement. She asked where she could meet with the site manager and she was directed to his office. The office was simply furnished and the man sitting behind the desk welcomed her with a smile.

“Good afternoon sir.” She greeted.

“Good afternoon. How may I help you?”

“I want to join the workers on the site.” She said.

The man gave her a confused look. She did not look like one who could work on a construction site. She had a small stature and he figured she would not be strong enough for the tedious job.

“Why do you want to work here?” He decided to ask.

“Because I need a job. I am tired of sitting at home doing nothing.”

“But I doubt you can handle the stress of working on a construction site.”

“Please, I will do anything assigned to me. I just want to earn a living.” She pleaded.

“I’m sorry but I can’t.” He said. “I would have loved to help you; maybe with an office job but I really don’t have one to offer you now.”

She had left home with raised hopes. She had gone to the site with a mission – to get a job. She had heard that construction workers got paid daily and she had been ready to get her hands dirty to earn a living. But the man before her had dashed her hopes and she burst into tears.

“Please understand.” The man said; shocked at her tears.

 

She was still seated before him when they heard a knock on the door and a lady walked in. The lady had come to visit a friend in the vicinity and had decided to check on the site manager who was her friend. She noticed the lady who was crying and wondered what was amiss. The lady tried to compose herself as she looked away from the stare of the intruder.

“Is there a problem?” The site manager’s friend asked.

The lady looked up on hearing the voice of the site manager’s friend. Surprise registered on the face of the site manager’s friend as they looked at each other. “Sis, what are you doing here?” She asked the lady seated before her.

“She came to ask for a job on the site.” The site manager responded.

The site manager’s friend looked from her friend to the lady seated before her in confusion. “You are a graduate; why will you want to work here?”

The site manager’s jaw dropped. “A graduate?” He asked in astonishment.

The lady seated simply nodded.

“She is my friend.” The site manager’s friend said to him.

“Hmm…” The site manager sighed. “I really wish I could help.”

The lady stood up and wiped her tears. “Thank you sir.” She said to the site manager.

The site manager’s friend moved close to her friend and hugged her. “It will be okay sis. You can’t do this job under the heat and heavy weights. You may even breakdown.”

The lady nodded and smiled sadly.

 

As she got home that evening, she met a letter inviting her to a multi-national organization the next day for a chat. She could hardly sleep that night. She thought about what to wear to appear presentable. She eventually settled for an old skirt suit she had kept for occasions like this.

She left home early enough the next day, so as not to be caught in traffic. She got to the organization way before her appointment and waited in the lobby as directed by the receptionist.

An hour later, she walked out of the organization with an instruction to resume work in one of the branches of the organization the next day as a contract staff. As she sat in the public bus taking her back home, her eyes welled up with tears; but this time they were tears of joy

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2 Replies to “The Search”

  1. Hmm, nice story with a lot of morals to pick from. She was tired of sitting at home doing nothing and she, despite being a graduate, swallowed her pride and decided to look for work at a construction site. Fate saw her readiness to put her hands to work and blessed her with a job of her desires in 24 hours. No wonder the wise King Solomon said “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might”. Indeed there is dignity in labour, any labour!

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