It Is Called A Car Wash

By Afees Onitilo 

I am not sure if this is a saying but I am hoping you get to relate with it, I believe that the older a man grows the wiser he should become and that has been my case concerning this issue I am about to discuss.

Though I am still a boy in my 20s but I am lucky to have a very good understanding about life, at least for someone within my age bracket. I remember some years ago, I never had problems with people taking their cars to the car wash and drinking one or two bottles at the same car wash. In fact back then if I am in a friend’s car and we go to a car wash where they don't sell alcohol I would be the one to tell my friend not to go there. My level of understanding then was the fact that every car wash must have a joint or something to relax the customer while they wait for their car but all that has changed now.

Recently I was taking a stroll then I noticed this new car wash that just opened in my area, outside the car wash is a shawama stand so I decided to go price the shawama. It was while I was pricing the shawama I noticed that inside the car wash is a bar or let me say a small relaxation centre that you can’t go to unless you are washing your car because I actually went there to see what was happening, I asked if I could buy a bottle of beer but I was told they only sell to customers and that was when it hit it.

Literally looking at the word “Car Wash” it is suppose to be a place where cars are been washed right? But I am sure you must have noticed that one of the most happening spot in Lagos at least are Car Wash centers. There is hardly a car wash that you would see where they don't sell beer and of course pepper soup, now what baffles me is this “why sell alcohol in a place where cars are suppose to get washed? What I am sure I can’t really figure out is who started this concept and why but that is not even the issue.

The issue is this, selling alcohol in a car wash is a very bad practice and I would be glad if necessary authorities can act on this. I mean we all know the effect of drinking and driving then why would some people still now decide to sell alcohol in a place where cars are suppose to be washed. 

The most irritating thing is the fact that there are some people that just drive to the car wash just to drink and I am saying this because before I wrote this article I actually went around one or two car wash centers just to talk and observe. It was from my talking and observation that I discovered that actually at the moment very few car owners would want to go to a car wash where they can’t relax with a bottle of beer or a bowl of pepper soul. Can someone please help me tell them it is a car wash meaning you are suppose to go there to get your car washed and not go there to get yourself drunk.

The only way to stop this from happening is by making sure all the car wash operators stop selling alcohol and if any car wash operator want to sell alcohol, he or she should collect a licence to operate as a bar owner and that mustn’t be built around the car wash. If you are in the position of power and you are reading this, please act on it, you don't know the life you might be saving, drinking and driving is a bad combination and if we can start checkmating places like this I am sure we can reduce the number of people dying because they were under the influence. Thank you.