Heritage

My employer is stingy, I cannot afford vodka shots in a London bar

man

A wild night out with friends leaves him feeling warmer but late for his classes the next day. PHOTO | BD GRAPHIC

I had been in London three days and nothing had prepared me for that kind of cold. This is the cold that goes straight to the marrow making me feel like I’m about to get a serious bout of pneumonia.

I was also not very pleased with the exchange rate. I travelled with what I considered quite a warm winter coat. But soon I realised that to survive I needed to buy more sweaters and gloves.

I walked into a Marks and Spencer shop since I have heard so much about the good quality of what they sell. The cheapest sweater I could find was 50 pounds, which converted comes close to Sh8,000.

I could not help but think that back home, this amount could have bought at least four sweaters.

So I walked out of the Marks and Spencer and continued my search on the high street, with arms in the pockets in an attempt to prevent them from freezing. I found some slightly affordable clothes in the fourth shop that I entered and even those sweaters set me back by Sh5,000.

Sadly my company is stingy. It does not pay for business class tickets except for the CEO and directors and does not reimburse for such costs. Essentially, I will end up broke over company travel.

Despite the cold and the lack of spending cash, I found the training useful. It focuses on how to make businesses more sustainable.

It had been quite informative to learn how companies in the developed world make money and keep employees motivated. There were useful contacts and networking opportunities. I was glad I came.

The day before, two of my training partners told me, “Hey Josphat, let us go have a meal and drink.”

Given my budget constraints, I was not too keen to go. So I came up with a lie and said, “I have to work on some stuff for the boss because he needs it tomorrow morning.”

Yuri, one of the guys who is from Russia, said, “C’mon, loosen up a little. It will just be an hour.”

I made the usual attempts at saying no but I found myself saying yes when Yuri said, “It is my treat.”

We ended up in what Yuri described as the “it place” in West End. To me it was just another darkly lit establishment.

Yuri told me that the meat there was the best in the world. My patriotic side took over as I told him about how “in Kenya we have some of the best meat in the world.”

However, when the meat was served, it was delicious and I kept wishing I could ask for seconds, but then again since I was not paying for the bill I dared not do so. I was determined to cause minimum damage to Yuri’s budget as possible so when he asked me to have a drink I meekly responded, “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

“Nonsense. You are going to have a serious drink,” he said.

That opened floodgates of vodka shots that not only made me feel good but also made me feel warm—the cold was gone.

After our meal we passed through yet another pub where Yuri said we must have “two for the ditch.”

At the back of my mind I could still remember that I had some presentation to make for the boss and I needed to be in class by 9am the next day. So I told Yuri, “We need to stop lest we miss the train back to the hotel.”

He laughed boisterously, “We will be taking the cab. I have money.”

The rest of the evening was a blur. All I know is that come the next morning, I woke up later than I should have and only managed to get into class at 9.40am.

Imagine my shock when I found Yuri at the front of the class looking as fresh as a lily.