My girlfriend was working in the banking sector before the financial institution shakeup occurred. She was always scared that she was going to lose her job. She called and poured her worries on me. She talked about how it took her so many years before getting the job and how difficult it would be for her to find another job like that if she was to lose her job. I encourage her. I told her to look at the brighter side of things. I told her to continue working on things that are under her control and leave the ones that are not in the hands of God. No matter what I said, she always called with more worries.

One afternoon, I was in the office when she called. She was crying. She said, “Ato, what I feared had happened. I got my letter a few minutes ago. I’ve been laid off. She cried and cried on the phone until my eyes became moist as I tried to hold back my own tears. We were left with a few months to get married. “How do we go on? Ato, where do we go from here?” She asked me. I told her, “Get home first. When I close from work, I would come so we plan things together.”

Four months later, we got married. She didn’t want to get married. She was concerned about us and how we were going to survive only on my salary. I told her, “You’re one smart girl. You’ll find a new job very soon. Don’t worry too much about a job, it will come when it would come.“ Three months, six months after marriage, she still didn’t get a job. We were doing just fine. We could pay our utility bills and we could afford food and other comfortable living lifestyle but that could not stop her from worrying. She wanted a job by all means. One day, in church, it was announced that the church’s school was in need of teachers and would give preference to church members who will like to apply. After church, my wife told me, “I’m going to apply. At least, it would give me something to be busy about while I continue looking for a good job.”

She applied, got picked, and started working as a pupil’s teacher. She did that for only three months before COVID came and schools were shut down. We were back to square one. She was home while I went to work. Looking at me pick my bag and leave the house for work got her so depressed. “Ato, why is my own different? You wake up knowing there’s a place you have to go to. It gives your life meaning to do something with your life. Look at me, willing and able but no one will employ me.” Her worries turned me into a sad husband. At some point, I wished she could be the one working, while I was in her position. 

One afternoon, I came home with a new dress for her. She was very happy about the dress especially after she wore it and she realized it fit perfectly. She said, “I’ve always seen this dress on Instagram, I didn’t know I would own one someday.” I told her, “I saw it online, on Facebook. I ordered and they delivered today at the office.” When we both settled in the evening, watching TV, I told her, “We can try this online business too, you know. It’s not difficult like that. We get the stock, we advertise on Facebook and Instagram, and we’ll get people to buy, just like I bought your dress today. It could be a good start.” She was very enthused about the idea but also very skeptical. She asked me, “You think it’s a good business? Do you think it would be easier for us to get people to buy? I don’t want us to put money where it would lock up. You know our situation.”

I convinced her that it was worth the try. If we start and it’s not going well, we can just stop. So a month later, we started. We bought women slippers and some wigs. We added men’s khakis, shirts, and shoes. We didn’t want to keep large stocks from the beginning. We didn’t know anything about running ads on Facebook but we sat down, watched tutorials on Youtube, and started doing what we saw. Three days, we got no buyers. Not even a call to ask how much the things were. A week later, we had nothing to show for our efforts. My wife started getting worried. I told her to calm down. Everything would be alright.

One evening when I returned from work, she was very happy. I could see her mood had been lifted and was dancing around in the house. She told me, “Guess what, I made three sales today.” I said, “I told you it would work. All it takes is a little bit of patience.” Another day, she sold three things and made about 100% profit. Another day, she sold four other items and made a lot of profit.  Her spirit started soaring. She stopped complaining and started believing in the success of the business. 

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But there was one secret she didn’t know and still doesn’t know; I was the one who bought all the items she sold. I was tired of her worries and wanted to do everything to cheer her up. Sometimes, you have to cheat the system if it would make someone happy. I got a new sim, sent her a message about what I wanted to buy. She sent through delivery and I went for them. Other times, I asked friends in the office to place the order with their details. When the orders came, I paid them and collected the stuff. She was happy and I was happy too. We slept soundly knowing that the next day, I would go to work and she would be busy dealing with her own clients.

I continued buying from her until sales started picking up. Four months later, she had sold a lot of things and had added a lot of new stock. She started advertising on her Whatsapp and started giving it on credit to some of the ladies in the church. She was in business and was serious about it. That was when I stopped buying and instead started bringing all the items I bought back to her as new stock. I would bring a bundle to her and say, “These things were on sale so I bought them for you to be resold. She would look at them and say, “I’ve sold these items before and it moved.” Slowly, I pushed back all the things I bought from her into her stock and she didn’t get the hint.

She’s still home, waiting for the world to be alright so she can get back into the corporate world. She keeps telling me, “Even if I get a job, I will continue doing this online thing. It’s a good way to have another stream of income.” I look at her and smile, knowing the trick I had to pull to get her to believe in what she’s doing. She’s a happy wife now and that is the reason why I can thump on my chest and say, “I’m a happy husband.”

—Ato