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I've always loved being in a pharmacy, ever since I was a kid hanging out with my aunt, who is a pharmacist. I developed a passion for listening to people's feelings and offering solutions; it brought me great joy when my patients returned healthy. I got nicknamed "MMA nurse," but my friends and family chose to call me "quack nurse,". I didn't mind because they were partly right.
When I saw the job posting for a sales rep, I never thought I stood a chance, but I got it. The man mentioned he preferred someone with experience, but over time, I realised it might have also been about the salary. You can't expect to pay a qualified nurse or pharmacist only 25k a month, can you?
I can't forget what happened after the interview. I had crossed to the other road when I bumped into two ladies from the spa across the pharmacy.
"You came for that job ad?" one of them asked, and I nodded in agreement.
"My dear, you shouldn't work for that man," she continued.
“Why?” I enquired.
"You'd be the third sales rep this year," she explained, causing me to furrow my brows in confusion.
"Listen, that man is into his female employees. He's known to have relationships with them," said the second woman.
"We're just watching out for you because you're too young to get tangled in his mess. He's old enough to be your father," they said, and I thanked them before heading home.
Getting home, I discussed my encounter with the spa women with my family, and my sister was the most concerned, especially since she was the one who informed me about the job opportunity.
"Though we can't fully trust what they said, you must be cautious. There's no smoke without fire," she said and I nodded in agreement.
I started at the pharmacy after the weekend with a strong desire to work hard.
Contrary to what I had heard, the man's behaviour was nothing like what was described. He gave me a tour, set a few guidelines, and I quickly settled in.
He patiently guided me through documenting our daily sales on the computer and balancing the accounts at the end of the day. As it was my first job experience, there was a lot to learn, but he remained patient throughout the learning process.
Like those women said, he was old enough to be my father, so he treated me like his daughter.
He never ordered food for himself alone, he ensured customers respected me, never left me alone in the pharmacy on busy days, and, most importantly, never used abusive language or shouted at me without apologising later.
It was a wonderful work experience, and since it was my passion, I never felt overly stressed.
However, there's often some truth in rumors. Unless, in the case where the lies have been told repeatedly until they become the truth.
In this case, my boss did have a preference for women—not young girls like me, but mature ladies.
I observed how he sought their contact information and engaged in soft physical contact, especially with those who might consider becoming involved with a rich pharmacist.
I also noticed he's only nice to me because I work for him. He's a typical Igbo man who takes business and money seriously, even for a small amount like 50N.
This became evident on the day a young lady came in very early in the morning to buy Postinor 2 but was short by N100. Despite her tears and pleas, favour refused to come forth from my boss. Instead, he took her to a private room and demanded something in return for the medicine he was about to give her.
The situation was humiliating as the girl came out of the room yelling and insulting him. I wasn't shocked because I anticipated it when they went into that private space.
I kept wondering why he would act that way. Was it because of the type of medicine she needed, or did he just want to exploit her vulnerability? Could he have done such a thing right there in the private room, where someone could hear him?
But anyway, in my conversations with the previous female employee who occasionally dropped by for medicine or IV tools, I found out that he admires women but not his staff. He has never made any advances towards them. The main issue is that he doesn't pay well, leading them to resign when a better opportunity arises.
I understood them.
Personally, I was content because I didn't have to worry about buying food or paying rent. And it was the cleanest job I could find in Lagos at that time, with just a WAEC certificate.