A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR was there on Monday morning looking and listening. It was the finale farewell to the Bajan scribe some called Bob Hope.
Loyal and faithful he was to the cause of those who swarm the hive on Roebuck Street. And he was someone always in the thick of things, so well known he would have been to many.
Cephas was there. So too were the former close aides, permanent officers and former protectors of the short man who held all the sway in his heyday. Of course, the short man was prominent and spoke highly of Bob who had looked out for his every interest from the time of the “Three Blind Mice”.
The lady with the scarves, a simple and decent individual, was there. So too was the tall, confused fella from Cave Hill who believes that as long as you do not get on as Bajan Bob Hope did then you are against his cause. Of course, the guy who gained fame as “Mr Wuk Fuh Wuk” was there, smiling and as affable as ever.
But the lady in white did not show and those who hang around were also glaringly absent. People were asking why and how come they did not come to say bye bye to the man who promoted their interests. The question was whether Bob had renounced the Grand Ole Party as the short man has done?
Anxiety over Levi’s lash
A FEW MONTHS AGO a number of people got real frightened and decided to throw in the towel. This idea of putting up your feet after age 67 was out of the picture.
The fear was that the piece of change they would be getting would be getting a lash from Levi the Tax Collector who operators from Goodland. But they heard that was out of the question, so many decided to ask for an extension of their request. Some even cried and indicated things still had to be done at home, debts paid off and the children looked after.
But the word is back on the streets that the pan cart of money some people will get may not need help from any security firm to guard while leaving the bank.
Some people feel that a per cent may have to be left behind as is the custom in other places. And while no certain figure has been indicated, the word through the grapevine is that it may be as much as 30 per cent.
So, do not be surprised if many who have had the honour of 400 continuous months in the army of occupation decide to throw in the towel and not wait until three score and eight. The mere idea of the dip into the pot of gold will force many to forgo staying around even with the arthritis and rheumatism.
So much for confidentiality
CONFIDENTIALITY certainly does not exist in some people’s vocabulary.
Some people relaxing in the Esplanade on Bay Street this past week were surprised to hear a squeaky-voiced woman talk about an interview she had recently attended.
Rather than say nothing during the lunch talk or simply excuse herself and go get some fresh air from the musty, condemned building there she was licking her mouth, she was making it clear that the fella who seeks to come under her wings was poorakey when he got the opportunity. If he does not have higher strings to pull then he’s out of luck. The very charming young lady seems to have all the qualities for the pick. Indeed, some people who were in the Esplanade feel she should have been kicked right to the top.
Talk of the town
TALK, MAN, TALK. That was the refrain in the country and in the town. In the calypso tent, on the cocktail circuit, on the radio and at the political meetings, the call was to “unzip your mouth”.
Wherever you went, people said the silent man wasn’t saying anything, forgetting that he had already said empty vessels keep the most noise.
Behold, the silent one opened his mouth and spoke last week, and now people are saying he shouldn’t talk; that he was too forceful and that he talked down to people and was insulting.
However, the thing is that the silent one will continue to do his own thing in his own style.
