I Paid 40 Dollars To Shape A Dress When Aboki Will Do It For 20 Naira.

 

Tell me which kind life be dis biko?!! Life in this America is not easy at all at all!! I bought 2 wrap dresses from Jcpenny for my mom, but unfortunately for her they were too short. Her reason was "I am a married woman, I cant be wearing things like this". Well luckily for me i'm not, so I decided to take them and have them amended to my size. Next to the local food town where I buy my groceries there is a tailoring shop. On my way to an appointment this afternoon I decided to take the dresses there for them to work on it... (continue)
As I walked into the shop, I was greeted so warmly by a short elderly lady, instantly I became happy because judging by the set up of the shop andthe warm greeting I was able to conclude that the business must be family owned, meaning better customer service and more reasonable prices (little did I know). I told her what I needed, which was for my dress to be shaped to my size. She politely showed me to the fitting room, where I put on the dress and came out for her to see it. I pointed out the areas where it needed some nips and snips, and she pinned them up. After we were done, I headed to the counter to discuss price... Now mind you at this time I was smiling and happy with the service I had received so far... I walked up to the counter and she pulled out a piece of paper, wrote down a few things and said your total will be 40 dollars. Of course my face and tone changed. 40 gini?! Just for ordinary shaping? So if I now want to sew a fresh new gown how much you go charge?! Of course I did not speak pidgin English to her, because obviously she wouldn't understand, but I did think it. I tried to bargain with her and offer her 35 but she stood firm and angrily said "NO 40! THATS PRICE! I Cut here, I remove belt, I put belt back! 40 Dollar!" At that moment I just had to give in because I was late for my appointment.
   Someone please tell me. This is something that an aboki will just do sharp sharp for 20 naira (about 15cents) back home. Is this the dream my parents had for me when they decided to give birth to me in America? To be over spending my hard earned money on cheap labor? Not to mention I'm not getting it back until Thursday afternoon. Aboki will sit at your doorstep and do it for you in 20 minutes. Anyways, I only hope she does it well, that way I can at least feel like I got my money's worth.

Stay Blessed :)