Dear Nesta,
I could jes’ imagine how de excitement buildin’ up ovuh dey wid all de diff’rent nationalities pourin’ in to London fuh de start o’ de Games dis weeken’. I cyahn be present but yuh could bet I inten’ to do de nex’ bes’ t’ing – stick to de TV like glue to see wuhevuh I could.
Nex’ to ethuh countries, we contingent pretty small but we still lookin’ fuh victory. After all, dah’s why we up dey, right? It’s been quite a while sence Obadalie put dis li’l rock in de news an’ I would feel good to see one o’ we afthletes goin’ up ’pon dah podium agen. Well, time gine tell.
Las’ week we had we own excitement when dah big-able international agency Standard & Poor’s t’ought it was necessary to downgrade de country to junk bond status. Sence it happen, my head in a spin from all de diff’rent views I been hearin’.
Firs’, de Central Bank Governor come out an’ say de situation en all dah bad, an’ Chris Sinckler tek up de same position as duh bofe realise it did necessary to try an’ reassure Bajans not to panic. Po’ me, I en no big finance brain so I now tryin’ to sif’ t’rough dem views an’ de agency own an’ try to come to a conclusion fuh muhself, but like I en mekkin’ much headway.
I en need to tell yuh how de Opposition carryin’ on, askin’ fuh de Governor head an’ new elections right away. But I lissenin’ real careful ’cause dem is de Opposition an’ dah is duh job – to oppose whenevuh an’ in whichevuh way duh could.
Don’ min’ de country had a downgradin’ while dem was in power. Dat was den an’ dis is now an’ duh mekkin’ de mos’ o’ de situation. Owen want elections “like yesterday” but even ef he say “abracadabra”, dah wish en comin’ true at dis time.
In all dis back an’ forf – de call-in programmes, newspaper comments, even de “man in de street” – I keep waitin’ to hear from we leader. Was it not fuh Philomena, I woulda miss hearin’ wuh he finally come out an’ say de ethuh night ’pon TV. Long story short, to my min’ – like de ethuh two gentlemen – de PM don’ seem concern ’bout de agency report an’ we shun worry neiduh.
Mebbe so, but I still ponderin’ why de agency should say one t’ing an’ de guv’ment anethuh. Who I mus’ believe? One t’ing I sure ’bout, he promise Owen de “battle of his life” when ’e does decide to call elections, an’ my crystal ball tell muh sparks enuff gine fly.
Dealin’ wid de downgradin’ is one t’ing, but sence de Minister of Healf come out an’ tell we whey guv’ment decidin’ to buil’ de new horsepittle – all de way out in Kingslan’, off de highway – dah cause anethuh furore. Yuh could imagine de noise comin’ from people, ’specially in de norf! Not dat I blame duh. Ef yuh livin’ up dey an’ tek in real sick, yuh could be dead long befo’ yuh even get to town, much less, Kingslan’ – onless duh plannin’ to use helicopters.
I was wonderin’ why in God’s name guv’ment pick dah spot, widout even puttin’ we in de picture befo’ mekkin’ duh final decision. Wuh wrong wid expandin’ de present horspittle? De expert engineers duh got cyahn do somet’ing wid all de lan’ nearby?
Lemmuh lef’ dis wid yuh. When I went to Trinidad in May, it cos’ muh onder $400. Copycat Philomena decide she now want to go but change she min’ quick-sharp when she hear de price gone up to almos’ double.
Lord have ’is mercy, summer or no summer, we missin’ a certain airline too bad.
Tek care o’ yuhself
Yuh frien’ Babsie
