RELATIONSHIPS IN BUSINESS

I was desperate not to lose this large shipment, and repeat customer. At the same time I was also fighting to keep down the bile that was rising within me towards my friend; my friend that I had over the years staked my head for again and again (and my ask was really pocket change for him at that point). Whichever way you look at it, the unwritten code in business is that when someone goes out of their way to help you, you owe them that favor. It is what it is. When they come back knocking, you tear out your hair (if you have to) to help them. You don’t break that chain. It cycles back to you.

As a last resort (banks never entertained the hoi-polloi then), I went downtown to one of our import customers – Hajji Musa. Even with my bad Luganda then (he spoke only Luganda), he had taken a liking for me. He always wondered why I had exchanged my cushy corporate job for a hustler’s life. He always teased me that the mean streets were not made for polished and well behaved chaps like me. I suppose he must have seen a little of himself in me. He always treated me like royalty, even personally going door to door with me, introducing me to his fellow importers. I never had to sell on Market street. I simply collected bills of lading.