Monday, April 27, 2026

MAVIS BECKLES: Goodbye and good riddance to 2014

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YOU SEE ME? As long as I live, I will nevah want tuh experience another year like 2014 again.

Let me tell you something: 2014 was one o’ the hardest years of my life. All kinda things happen.

When it wasn’t one thing it was the next, and when you think dat it couldn’t get any worse than the last time, somebody like duh had it in fuh me and turn up the heat again. I ain’t making nuh sport; it wasn’t easy at all.

If it wasn’t the accident I get in and mash up my li’l car, it was the heavy rains dat caused my entire garage tuh be flooded out. Then because o’ the extra expenses, I had tuh shift a piece o’ money from here and put it there tuh keep the utility people from disconnecting muh services.

As if dah ain’t enough, evah time ya pick up something in the supermarket, it cost more than the last time. Then muh li’l business get slow, slow because the customers wasn’t coming like before, and we all know why. I think it was in anticipation o’ what was happening and is about tuh happen in 2015.

Walking on eggshells

Look, it ain’t only me. Before the old year done, some people was walking pon eggshells as ya was hearing ’bout the 3 000 civil servants who was tuh get send home.

I doan believe a lot o’ dem actually see it happening. Uh mean, dat is Government – ya doan get fired from a Government job.

But this time it was different; this time it was fuh real. So, from the time the year turn, it look like all hell brek loose when Freundel Stuart and he boys start tuh release the walking papers fuh workers in evah single Government department.

It send all kinds o’ people in a tailspin and it went on fuh what seem like fuhevah.
Evah day when ya open the newspapers or watch the news, all ya was seein g was men quarrelling and looking helpless and women holding on ’pon one another and bawling.

I would like tuh meet anybody – oh, I ain’t mean the big boys – who could tell me dat last year (2014) was a wonderful year fuh dem, ’cause up tuh now whoevah I talk tuh giving me the same story. Duh cahn wait tuh see 2014 done; duh looking forward wid great anticipation tuh 2015.

Civil servants gone

One man tell me straight dat he nevah thought in his wildest dreams dat the day would come when he would see civil servants get send home. He say dat a lot o’ civil servants – he was one heself – used tuh think dat dem invincible; nuhbody cahn touch dem, dem holding down a Government job and ya doan get leggo from a Government job suh easy, if at all.

In 2014, it look like evabody had a gun: evah minute ya turn ’round ya was hearing ’bout this body getting shoot in some part o’ duh body running fuh duh life or duh dead in the road.

Evahbody vex as hell and instead o’ solving duh differences in a sensible way, duh pull out duh piece and shoot down somebody.

I glad enough it done, hear? As I said before, I ain’t know how much more o’ 2014 I coulda take. I want a li’l ease. I looking forward tuh a healthy, prosperous and happy 2015, hear? And I praying dat you doing the same thing too.

Happy New Year, Barbados!

* Mavis Beckles was born and raised in The Orleans. She has an opinion on everything.

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