Duh got a famous line in Julius Caesar: “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones, so let it be with Caesar.”
Now, de Vendor did always love Shakespeare but ah coulda never understand dat line, becausing at funerals yuh would swear dat everybody dat dead was a saint! Even fellas dat live and die by de gun, vagabonds dat get shot trying to brek in somebody house, you would swear dem was de equivalent of Father Paul, a good man, or dat dem up dey with Mandela!
“My son was a good boy, ah never had a need dat couldn’t be met, he look [after] me and de ten children dat he got from ten different women. True, he never wuk no place but muh light, water and cable TV bills nused to get pay and every month, he nused to put credit pun de [two cellphones] dat he present me wid! Ah did never ask he where he get dem from but I figure it was two different girlfriends ‘cause one nused to come up as Shaquia and de next one as Oneekia and in truth sometimes people nused to call fuh dem pun de phones but I always nused to say dem ain’t bout hey!
“He was a good boy, when de TV brek down, just so in de middle of de night, he would left de house and come back a few hours later wid a new flatscreen. True, it was not in nuh box and ah never see [a] warranty, but I suppose he did know places dat open 24 hours a day dat does sell TVs. Yes, my son was a good boy but some wufless vagabond shoot he!”
Hear she through de tears: ”I was never frighten fuh nuh body, not once Jamar was living. A fella one time time did curse muh stink and de next time I see he was when ah went to spend de day at de QEH dispensary to get muh diabetes medicine. He was walking out de horsepital pun crutches.?Some vagabond did brek he two kneecaps and he did real polite to muh and apologize fuh he behaviour. I guess my son and he had words!”
So, I really never understand di ting ‘bout de evil dat men do lives after dem, dat is de reverse of what I know does happen. Just go to any Bajan funeral. Dese days, yuh got to carry long a snack and some liquid refreshment because a service could last up to four hours, wid appreciations, eulogies, tributes – in songs and in words – and some of de poppets who does [get] hold of de microphone does talk and talk and talk. But it does always be ‘bout how great de person was.
But a wise old sage once tell de Vendor: “Speak no evil of de departed but speak no good either unless yuh truly mean it.” Dat message did not get through to Maggie Thatcher’s enemies and dese so called civilized people dat we does admire, de British, been behaving in a disgusting way, celebrating she death, pelting parties all over de country wid slogans like “Rust in Hell Maggie” and “ding dong, de witch is dead!” even in parliament some awful things get uttered ‘bout dis woman who transformed de British economy from a welfare state to a modern and successful economy!
Maybe, being British heself, Shakespeare did know wha’ he was talking ‘bout when he say de evil dat men do lives after dem!
I, Market Vendor, gone fuh now. You have a blessed and a wonderful day yuh hear?a
