I ain’t gine tell you nuh lie.
I ain’t sit down and listen tuh nuh kinda Budget because half o’ the time just listening tuh it and then dem different MP’s speechifying boisterously wid out making a lot a sense does leave me frustrated and confuse.
What I does do most o’ the time though, is wait ’til it come out in the paper the next day, check out the headlines and pick out the pieces dat I could understand from there.
Then the next thing I does do, is keep my ears open tuh hear what the people in the street saying ’bout the Budget.
How they feel ‘bout it and how dem see it affecting dem.
Well, the part o’ the Budget dat the man in the street doan seem tuh want tuh come tuh grips wid is the VAT hike.
Duh vex ’cause duh say dat wid VAT up, evathing must go up.
Using opportunity
Duh also saying dat because the Government carried up the VAT, some business people tek it pon demselves tuh increase duh prices from Wednesday the first o’ the month. Now this in got nutten to do wid the VAT, just people using the opportunity tuh juck out people eye. But ya know, some people just ain’t got nuh kinda conscience, nuh scruples – nutten.
I hear somebody saying dat this Government ain’t easy, duh help ya wid a li’l ease wid the free bus fares fuh the school children, but then the li’l bit dat ya thought ya might save in dat area, ya gotta tek it and pay it back tuh dem. In other words, duh give yuh in one hand and tek it back wid the other.
Evathing up in the air
I ain’t know wha’ gine happen ’bout this place soon from now wid the way how things going; evathing gone long up in the air.
Yesterday I decided tuh fill up my li’l puma at the service station and when the man tell me $80 I said, “Lord have mercy”! And look, you would think dat because ya might be paying dat much for a full tank o’ gas dat it gine last ya for a week or more; but dat is far from the truth ’cause lemmuh tell ya, only this morning I look at my gas gauge and see it almost pon the halfway mark.
But I hope Bajans mek haste and wake up tuh what happening ‘round dem. I hope duh see dat anything could happen and at anytime. I hope we look around and see dat duh ain’t got one single breadfruit pon the trees nowhere pon the island, Tomas tek he good time and blow off evah one; dem and the golden apples.
I hope we realize now dat if we want tuh eat chicken on a regular basis, we gotta get back tuh building a few fowl cubebs and keeping a few yard fowls in dem. I hope we beginning tuh see dat the backyard kitchen gardens are vital at this stage.
I hope we are beginning tuh understand dat if we doan get back tuh basics we gine have tuh tek some o’ the lot o’ bush dat we got growing ’bout here and boil it , stew it or fry it in order tuh get something tuh eat when the days come. We might even begin tuh see the giant African snail as a source o’ protein ’cause things looking kinda bleak.
Bold-faced creatures
As fuh dem, dem like duh come tuh starve we out ’cause wha’ li’l bit o’ food we got ’bout here in the ground, dem yamming down. One time ya used tuh only see dem crawling ’bout pon the ground but nowadays duh like duh sprouting wings ovah night ’cause ya does see dem all up in de trees mekking the few fruits guh round; duh does be all up pon top ya house, dem is some bold-faced creatures hear wha’ I tell ya.
The monkeys like duh realise dat things getting rough and the only thing since Tomas dat dem ain’t eating is the leaves off the trees. All the li’l young apples wid-out seeds dat escaped Tomas fury, dem does be mekking snort and fighting for.
Then ya got another kind o’ creature dat in these hard times ya got tuh contend wid. It is the ones who does be just walking ’bout checking out poor, honest people who does be brekking duh backs in the sun and rain planting up duh gardens tuh make a dollar bill and put some food pon the table fuh duh families and these boldfaced creatures would presumptuously and brazenly tek it pon demselves tuh go and tief off all the people things.
A lot o’ we got tuh try and get up and get. We got tuh stop bonging in at all the big shops and spending up evah cent we got in we pockets and just try tuh not only work wid what
we have, but become more resourceful and put we hands tuh the plough. The Budgets will always come. Nuh matter if we like what they saying or how it is affecting us, we still got tuh find a way tuh keep we heads above the water.
?• Mavis Beckles was born and raised in The Orleans. She has an opinion on everything.