Yes. That was what I saw in my neighborhood. The local
restaurant was filled to the brim with the attendants working vigorously to
satisfy the customers’ hunger. The restaurant is a home for the good, the bad
and the ugly. It constitutes people from all works of life; the bankers,
lawyers, doctors, commercial drivers, traders, hawkers. In one full glance, I
took in every detail about the restaurant. The walls of the room have been
darkened by smoke. The cobwebs which hung on what could be described as the
ceiling also suffered the impact of the smoke as they were all charred and
blackened. On what served as the table lay a jug of water and two plastic cups.
As I wondered how any sane person could drink from such a dirty cup, a greasy
hand lowered on the cup, lifted it and conveyed it to the mouth. I closed my
eyes in despair and before I could open them, he had gulped down the water in
one full swig and released a loud belch of satisfaction.At the far end of the
room sat about 3 men who could be described as bankers (judging from their looks.)
They were licking their fingers noisily. A woman, whom I learnt was the “madam”
of the restaurant, kept barking orders to her employees in a thick Yoruba
accent. With my fair knowledge of Yoruba, I could make out sentences like,
“have you served him you goat?”, “go get those plates!” , “ stop standing like
a tree and get busy! ” . I looked around and saw a group of hungry looking men,
standing in a corner; waiting for any customer to leave so they could occupy
his seat. Reluctantly, I joined the queue, loosened the button on my collar,
pulled out my jacket and hung it on my shoulder. As I counted the number of men
ahead of me in the queue, I blamed my wife for not bringing my lunch to my
office. It was a daily routine for her to stop by and drop my lunch at my
office each time she goes to pick the kids from the school. A few hours before her usual time of arrival,
she called to apologize that she had a flat tire and could not make it to my
office. I felt hungry immediately I got the the bad news. I had to make up my
mind to come and seek solace in this local restaurant which was the closest to
my place of work. As I brooded over these thoughts and cursed myself for not
checking her tires before leaving for work, the voice of one of the men in the
queue brought me back to life as he shouted at a customer who didn’t want to
leave his seat after eating. It was a funny experience as I watched these men,
all looking responsible in well tailored suits shout at each other.
As I recounted this
event which happened 4 years ago, I thought of how technology has changed a few
things. I met a friend who told me he now “cooks with his phone” and doesn’t go
around looking for where to have his lunch.
I was marveled and asked him how the heck he did that. He laughed
mockingly and asked which planet I fell from.
I wasn’t in the mood to take insults from this man who continued to
laugh uncontrollably until tears filled his eyes. I was on the verge of losing my temper before
he said, “ man! Look, this phone is my kitchen. I only need to specify the kind
of food I want and I will have them delivered smoking hot”. “ If my wife do
shakara for me”, he continued in pidgin, “ I go just use this phone bring any
food I like” He recommended series of
websites from which I can order foods and pay on delivery. I got home, did my
research and decided to give the option a try.
hellofood is
just the perfect solution. Their service is superb and their delivery is
fast. hellofood currently operates in Lagos, Abuja and Port
Harcourt. If you are in one of these cities and you’re too busy or too lazy
to leave your workplace in search of food, hellofood will take care of your
lunch. They also provide Android, Windows and IOS users a mobile app which you
can download here.
Stay tuned as I plan to bring you more online services!
tagged: editorial, hellofood, fast food, order,joint,restaurant , naija, Nigeria, online,buy