Once agen we at de start o’ a new year an’ from de looks o’ t’ings, dis one en gine be de easies’ to deal wid a-tall.
Some Bajans open it in church, prayin’ an’ axin’ God to see we t’rough de days ahead; ethuhs drinkin’, dancin’ an’ enjoyin’ de fireworks; a number o’ workers from de Drainage Unit cussin’ an’ vex as hell, while duh colleagues cryin’ an’ wonderin’ wuh in store fuh dem sence gettin’ duh “walkin’ papers”. De res’ – an’ I was in dat group – was at home proppin’ up duh eyelids wid matchsticks tryin’ to watch television long enough to see de ball drop in Times Square.
Well, Santa gone back to de Norf Pole an’ all de fettin’ an’ mekkin’ merry done an’ we mus’ now start facin’ reality an’ de col’, hard facks o’ life. Staff cuts gine bite hard – cuts we used to hear was never goin’ to happen – an’ January, always a hard monf, gine be mo’ hard.
Chile, t’ings en shapin’ up too “sweet” a-tall. De NUPW mek a las’-minute attemp’ to help duh members in de Drainage Unit save duh jobs, by puttin’ forward proposals to Guvment duh t’ought would help put some money in de coffers, but it din impress de Finance Minister enough to mek ’e change ’e min’. It don’ seem it gine stop dey, doh. De “big” union now promisin’ to j’in wid duh to do battle fuh all dem people dat look like duh gine lose duh pick. Wuhloss! Now de ball drop, evahbody comin’ up wid all sorts o’ remedies. Whey dem was all dis time? You mean, dem wait ’til now to try an’ change de Guvment position?
But wait, wuh happen to dah Public Service Reform dat we used to hear nuff ’bout evah long-time sence? Ef dah did tek place when it was suppose to happen, we wunta got all dese problems now. I sorry enuff, but intelligent people should onderstan’ dat ef dese cuts don’ tek place, Bajans might not like de nex’ step de Guvment might get force to tek.
We read ’bout de hard times people de worl’ over been goin’ t’rough sence de recession start – losin’ jobs, homes, sometimes even lives. ’Pon de ethuh han’, we Bajans been partyin’ an’ spennin’ as ef tomorruh would never come, wid not much t’ought o’ wuh was tekkin’ place. Suddenly, we chickens startin’ to come home to roos’, an’ now we realizin’ wuh we got to face, it causin’ a uproar.
I en know ef it is de recession or only Guvment fault dat we rough seas now rollin’ in – I lef’ dat to de “economic gurus” to battle over who right an’ who wrong. Philomena – always quotin’ de Bible – now walkin’ ’bout tellin’ evahbody, “he dat is widout sin, cas’ de firs’ stone”, an’ as far as she concern, neithuh party dare pick up dah firs’ stone. All two, bofe, is to blame fuh de predicament we now in.
But it en no p’int weepin’ an’ wailin’. Dis is now de time to “separate de men from de boys” an’ de two parties get togethuh an’ try an’ fix de problem. De Bible say dey’s a time an’ a reason fuh evaht’ing. I feel dis is now de time to put dem brakes ’pon dat mad, selfish “materialistic rush” dat goin’ on ’pon dis islan’. Nowadays, people only t’inkin’ ’bout duhself.
Anyhow, God is de Lord an’ we gine come outta de fire – neffin does las’ fuhevah. Mebbe dis is jes’ de experience Bajans need to change we back to de kin’, helpful people we used to be!
Tek care o’ yuhself,
Yuh frien’, Babsie.