Dear Nesta,DON’ T’INK DE TIME en flyin’ by! It look like only day befo’ dat I las’ write you, an’ look-out, is a week a’ready! How t’ings gine wif yuh, chile! I hope evaht’ing awright ovuh dey an’ dat dis letter gine fin’ yuh hale an’ hearty!De worl’ mussee spinnin’ faster dan befo’, an’ speedin’ up evaht’ing, ’cause I cyahn believe Crop–Over ’pon we doorstep agen! An’ yuh know wha’ dah mean! Tent doors open, de airwaves heatin’ up an’ we gettin’ de good as well as de bad from de calypsonians! I glad to see de radia stations keepin’ track o’ wha’ gine on. ‘Chile, fun an’ frolic tekkin’ ovuh. From de way t’ings shapin’ up, I don’ t’ink Bajans gine allow no recession to slow dem down one bit durin’ dis season! I hear whole sections of some o’ de masquerade ban’s sell out a’ready, an’ we still got nearly a monf to go befo’ de big day! One ban’ expeck ovuh fifteen hundred revellers, an’ beginnin’ to t’ink ‘bout gettin’ extra costumes fuh any late comers. Now, wha’ all dah tell yuh? ’Dat mos’ o’ we out to have a good time, regardless! We motto is “Sufficient unto de day, tomorrow gine look after itself”! Money still seem to be flowin’ from somewhey soul, aldoh yuh hearin’ dat nuff people gine home an’ cyahn fin’ neffin to do! Fuh some while now, I been wonderin’ ef de recession did evah hit this islan’. Ef it really is so, only certain people feelin’ it, yuh could be sure. Fuh de res’, duh life-style en change one bit! Evah weeken’, we got mo’ fetes, shows, fairs, dinners, or somewhey else to go whey yuh mus’ spen’ some money, an’ yuh could always fin’ people out an’ about, enjoyin’ duhself at one place or anethuh, an’ lemmuh tell yuh, dress in de bes’!Mos’ people got two an’ t’ree cellphones, (somebody I know en got a job but got two Blackberries), or always cruisin’ evah five minutes, or got on de lates’ – you would believe my nighber was at a christenin’ some while ago whey de baby was wearin’ a big-able gole watch ’pon de han’? Po’ li’l soul!Now, all dese t’ings cos’ money! True, credit cards wukkin’ ovuhtime, but dem got duh limits! Philomena say she feel nowadays, we jes’ tryin’ to fuhget de problems o’ life, so wha’evah money we could fin’, we gine out an’ enjoy weself! We never know when dah call gine come, so we could as well eat, drink an’ be merry, an’dah include Crop–Over! When we gone, any debts lef’ behin’, gine be somebody else problems! ’Pon de ethuh side o’ dis coin, is a whole lot o’ Bajans dat en lucky enuff to escape dis recession, an’ fuh dem, life en easy! De future en hol’in’ out much hope an’ it got dem sufferin’ from depression an’ sleepless nights! Somehow, dese people fine out dat cough syrup en only fuh col’s, but it could help mek dem sleep as well, so nowadays, de drugstores doin’ a brisk trade wif dah mixture! I only hope somebody explain dat ef duh keep on usin’ dese t’ings, duh could become addickted to dem an’ dah gine only add mo’ problems! To beat dese hard times, ethuhs tryin’ duh han’ at de Lotto, hopin’ to hit it big. But it seem dah is all duh doin’, hopin’! So Ness, ef yuh got nuf money to spen’, come on down an’ j’in de fettin’!
Tek care o’ yuhself
–Yuh frien’ Babsie
