Dear Nesta,
Anethuh monf gone by jes’ so, quick as a wink. I hope las’ Sundy fin’ yuh in church praisin’ yuh God an’ not playin’ no tricks an’ jokes ’pon po’ onsuspectin’ souls.
But finish wid de joke talk. Leh we get serious. T’ings turnin’ from red to very dark brown fuh REDjet, dah cheap airline dat was bringin’ summuch joy to po’ Bajans like me, an’ no doubt rich ones too, ’cause dem don’ miss a chance to save a penny. I hope I wrong but de airline flyin’ days seem to be comin’ to a sudden en’.
After gettin’ de joyful news from de tourism minister ’bout de arrival o’ a airline dat would have real cheap flights – so we all could fly ’bout de Caribbean widout “skinnin’ out” we pocketbooks – de said airline, REDjet, tek so long to get hey I was wonderin’ ef de news was too good to be true.
Anyway, it finally touch down at Grantley Adams an’ evuhbody was happy. You know how good it was? To t’ink we could finally get out from onder de weight o’ dem onconscionable airline ticket prices dat had we by de t’roats fuh years?
At firs’ Trinidad an’ Jamaica din too keen but finally gi’e de “all clear” an’ it was “horses off” fuh de airline. I had to laff how ethuh airlines was suddenly able to “look” at duh prices an’ bring dem down – an’ Philomena an’ my nighber start packin’.
From de start, aldoh I muhself was glad to hear ’bout dis great drop in prices, I was wonderin’ how a airline could charge sech low prices – US$9.99! It soun’ like a fairy story to me an’ I never did believe in fairies o’ any kin’ an’ I know advertisers got a “way” wid words, so I decide to wait an’ see. When I hear ’bout all de taxes an’ charges duh had to add on, it mek t’ings clear; de final cos’ wasn’ really dat low but still far, far cheaper dan de res’.
Money problems been followin’ dah po’ airline fuh some while now so dis recent report dat duh now stoppin’ all flights ’til furthuh notice shun come as a surprise.
Wuh dem need is a fairy godmuddah to wave she wan’ an’ sen’ duh soarin’ agen! I hearin’ talk ’bout how regional guvments should help out an’ a lot o’ “word support” comin’ from local tourism quarters but I en seein’ no concrete action tekkin’ place.
I hope duh en lookin’ ’pon Guvment as duh cash cow ’cause de milk dey jes’ barely tricklin’. An’ Al Barrack at de front o’ de line anyhow. Better to look someplace else. I hear de PM don’ min’ meetin’ wid duh but I suppose dah might only en’ up as a li’l pep talk to keep duh spirits up – like de one he had wid de Cuban.
I en know how de original talks went down wid REDjet to encourage duh to come hey but somebody din lookin’ too hard at de fine print. Dah’s mos’ impo’tant as I realize las’ week when readin’ a airline advertisement offerin’ $150 to Guyana, big an’ bol’. But ef I din put on muh glasses I mighta jes’ miss de li’l yellow star nex’ to de price, p’intin’ out it is only one way an’ special rules apply.
I sorry fuh REDjet, faif; duh had good intentions but from de start duh shoulda know duh c’n keep chargin’ dem low prices widout gettin’ help from somewhey. I onderstan’ one airline promise to keep prices steady, but who is to know how long dah gine las’? Oh well, Bajans in tights agen.
Tek care o’ yuhself
Yuh frien’ Babsie
