A
little exchange of words broke out between Tayo Adebiyi and a petty
trader who sells soft drinks at the Ketu area of Lagos on a hot Friday
afternoon sometime in February.
Adebiyi had ordered for a cold bottled
water which cost N50 and had also given the trader (a woman) a N200
note. The next action of the woman was what led to exchange of a series
of abusive words between both parties.
When the woman wanted to give Adebiyi a
balance of N150, she had dipped her hand into her bra to bring out the
money. Adebiyi, being a Biochemistry graduate, was irritated and furious
by this action to the extent that he returned the bottled water to her
and collected his money back.
He told our correspondent he could never
collect money kept in the bra and could not also understand why such a
habit was still being practised by some market women in this modern age.
Adebiyi said, “I was angry at the woman
because of where she brought out the money from to give me the change:
her bra! Apart from that, the money she brought out was rumpled and
smelling bad, obviously from the sweat it had been subjected to in her
bra. I can’t imagine why a woman would keep money in her brassiere in
this modern age. For what reason?”
However, for some market women, Saturday PUNCH
findings have shown that keeping money in bras is not a new trend as it
is a way through which they could secure their money from thieves and
pickpockets.
Our correspondent visited some markets
at Mile 12, Ketu, Ojota, and Yaba areas of Lagos to observe this old
habit among market women. Observation reveals that apart from a few
market women who keep their money in aprons and wallets, others simply
keep theirs in their brassieres.
For Rasheedat Ogunwole, a market woman
who sells tomatoes and pepper at the Ketu area of Lagos, she told our
correspondent that she keeps her money in her bra because, according to
her, it is safer there.
Ogunwole narrated two incidents that she experienced that made her decide to keep money in her bra anytime she is in the market.
She said, “It is because of pickpockets. I
used to have a purse where I kept my money. But on two different
occasions, I lost my purse to those thieves who hang around the market
here. I did not even know how it got stolen on each occasion. On the
first occasion, I kept the purse in my bag and was selling my goods. The
market was so rowdy that day that I didn’t even notice when my purse
was taken from my bag. I just saw that the zip of my bag had been opened
and torn.
“I cried because apart from the money
someone gave me, everything I made from sales that day was in the purse.
I think I had about N10,000.”
Ogunwole said that happened in December 2012.
“Apart from that first experience,” she
continued, “there was another one that happened sometime in July 2013. I
had finished selling for the day and was packing. It was also getting
dark and I was preparing to go home. While standing to get a bus to
Ikorodu, where I live, my wallet was forcefully snatched away from me by
those pickpockets who operate around here.
“My brother, since then, I decided to
start keeping my money in the bra. Nobody would dare try dip his hand in
my bra to steal my money.”
When asked if she doesn’t feel awkward
keeping money in the bra, she said, “There is nothing to be ashamed of
as long as my money is safe. It can be frustrating working from morning
till evening and letting some bad guys steal my money.”
To another market woman, who gave her
name simply as Bose, and who sells soft drinks on-the-go, her bra is her
bank: for that is where her money is secure from, according to her, the
‘ugly’ thieves at the Mile 12 market in Lagos.
Bose’s experience does not differ much
from Ogunwole’s. In fact, she said buying a wallet was tantamount to
wasting money because, “as a market woman, I don’t need it.”
She said, “Wallet is for the corporate people – those who work in offices. It is not for market women like me.”
She also said the process of arranging
money in a wallet was time-consuming for a market woman and that her own
type of trade did not afford her such amount of time to waste.
But apart from that, there’s another reason why Bose said she wouldn’t keep her money anywhere else apart from her brassiere.
She said, “There are many thieves around
here, especially those boys you see idling around (pointing to some
shabbily-dressed boys on the pedestrian bridge at the market). Their own
job is to look for unsuspecting people to snatch wallets and bags from.
If you are not too careful here, they will steal your money.
“They have snatched my purse once. That
was why I thought keeping it in my bra would be more secure. Moreso,
some other women also keep theirs there. It’s not really a big deal to
me as my money is now well-kept there. If you think your money is safe
in the bank, go and keep it there; if yours is safe in wallet, good for
you. As for me, it’s my bra, and nothing do me.”
Apart from money, our correspondent also
observed as a woman brought out her mobile phone from her brassiere to
pick a call. When she was through with it, our correspondent approached
her to find out why she kept her phone in her bra.
Jumoke Adewale, who also sells foodstuffs at the Mile 12 market, told Saturday PUNCH
she had lost three mobile phones in time past prior to keeping it in
her new-found ‘safe.’ Though she wouldn’t talk for long as she was busy
attending to her customers, Adewole said she didn’t see anything bad
keeping her money and phone in her bra.
“As long as my things are safe, there is no problem about that,” she said.
As for Iyabo Adesina, she asked Saturday PUNCH
if there was anything bad about the habit. She said she was willing to
learn if there was any health implication of keeping money in her
brassiere.
The 36-year-old seller of soft drinks at
the Yaba area of Lagos told our correspondent she had been keeping money
in her bra for close to three years since she started the business. She
also said it did not really mean anything to her as it was just a way
of keeping her money safe.
Adesina said, “I don’t really know if
there is anything bad in the habit because to me, this is just a way of
ensuring my money is safe from petty thieves and pickpockets in this
area. Though my money has not been stolen before, I have friends whose
wallets have been snatched.
“You know there is a saying that
‘prevention is better than cure’ and that it is better to learn from
what has happened to others rather than what happens to you. To me, it
makes sense to put my money in my bra because no thieves would be able
to put their hands in there.
“Moreover, that’s the only place I can
keep my money because I use my two hands to carry about my goods, so
there is no extra hand to hold a purse or wallet. But if there is
anything bad in it, tell me so I can change. But majorly, it’s for
safety reason.”
However, Shakira Ogunjimi seemed to be
different from her other colleagues. She sells provisions at the Idumota
area of Lagos Island.
The young woman, who is yet to finish her National Diploma in Science and Laboratory Technology, told Saturday PUNCH she wouldn’t dare put her money in her bra for fear of contracting diseases, especially cancer.
Ogunjimi said, “That habit is not good at
all. I even discourage my friends who indulge in this habit you are
talking about. To me, health safety is of more concern than financial
safety. What if you get cancer in the process?
“It is not even good considering the fact
that it is not hygienic. When you sweat, it will make the money to
smell bad. I also think it could cause rashes to women’s breasts.”
Any health implications?
A number of arguments have occurred
whether the act of keeping money or cell phones in brassieres could
cause breast cancer for the women who indulge in the habit.
However, according to Professor Remi
Ajekigbe, a professor of Radiotherapy and Oncology and Head of Oncology
Unit, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, there has been no scientific
proof or link between putting money in bras and cancer.
He said, “There is no scientific proof that it causes cancer. Putting money or cell phones in bra cannot give anybody cancer.”
He also said except for the fact that it
was a dirty habit, which was to be discouraged, no woman could contract
cancer through such habit.
However, according to an international news site, examiner.com,
Dr. Mehmet Oz, a reputable health expert, featured a woman who stored
her cell phone in her bra for four years. When she was diagnosed with
cancer, she realised that the tumour was located precisely where she had
put her cell phone.
Just a coincidence? No, say many experts
as well as women who had similar experiences. Although no definitive
research exists proving that putting your cell phone in your bra causes
breast cancer, Dr. Oz recommends playing it safe.
Breast cancer expert Dr. John West
agrees, and he expressed concern about teens in particular. “Store your
cell phone in an area far away from your chest, regardless of your age.”
The World Health Organisation agrees that
radiation from cell phones can possibly cause cancer. WHO includes cell
phone usage in the same “carcinogenic hazard” category as lead, engine
exhaust and chloroform.
“One problem is that it can take a while
to determine the correlation between cell phones and cancer. The biggest
problem we have is that we know most environmental factors take several
decades of exposure before we really see the consequences,” said Dr.
Keith Black, chairman of neurology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los
Angeles, in a recent interview with CNN.
However, in some cases, cancer develops
sooner, according to the Environmental Health Trust. The non-profit
organisation notes that “most of us have no idea that cell phones are
small microwave radios that should not be kept directly on the body.”
And they agree with Dr. Oz, saying that
“the ways some people are using their phones today could increase their
risk of developing breast cancer and other diseases tomorrow. Cell
phone’s microwave radiation seeps directly into soft fatty tissue of the
breast.”
Punch
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