The other day I was in the supermarket and happened tuh run into a long time friend o’ mine who I aint see in umpteen years. After hugging and kissing one another, we stand up there and started tuh talk ’bout life.
Look, we talk ’bout how things could happen and cause you tuh make changes in ya life dat you ya’self nevah thought you would or could evah make.
We talk ’bout the amount o’ times we would just hang out and old-talk at the gym and after. We talk ’bout the people who used tuh be there and wha’ duh doing now. We talk ’bout the people we know who now dead and gone. We talk ’bout we selves and how even though we did young adults back then, we didn’t seem tuh have a care in the world.
After ’bout what seemed like fuh evah standing up there in dat supermarket aisle laughing and talking, we ended up laughing at we selves. We started tuh talk ’bout how life could take ya, make ya or even break ya.
We talk ’bout how life could take ya, bounce ya ’round and then pelt ya one side like ya doan matter; then, if ya doan mind or if ya aint strong enough or got the resilience tuh bounce back, or if ya aint got God in ya life, I tell ya, anything could happen.
We talk ’bout how simple and easy life was in Barbados and thought dat because we had things suh breezy and cool ’bout here back then, it was going tuh stay so fuh evah. We nevah thought, in we wildest dreams, dat we would be pulling out we hair and scratching we tails so nowadays tuh make ends meet.
After standing up there in dat supermarket aisle fuh almost half hour, we finally parted; but before we left, we hugged and encouraged one another tuh be strong and keep holding on because it aint look like we gine be enjoying dat smooth ride we dream ’bout fuh much longer.
Rather, we gine have tuh go through and endure some serious turbulence just round the bend.
I walked away wid a smile pon my face, feeling good dat I butt-up pon a good old friend.
But walking across the car park I look up at the blue sky and just said: “Lord, give me the courage tuh face the many challenges dat I gine have tuh face ’cause I know I cahn do it by myself”.
Fuh years now Barbadians have been living a somewhat charmed life, wid many people not having the slightest thought ’bout tomorrow and what it could bring forth.
Many people couldn’t care less as long as duh had a lil job. There was food pon the table and clothes pon duh backs.
Some people couldn’t wait fuh the next fete tuh come up fuh dem tuh be out and gone like a pop-kite. So dat now the way how things have turned out in Barbados, it got a lot o’ people off balanced and stumbling and looking fuh any and evahbody tuh blame.
Fuh years we had it good and a lot o’ we Bajans take it fuh granted dat what was happening in other places couldn’t happen here. Some o’ we even used tuh look down we noses at other people and the islands or places duh come from, but duh nevah stop tuh think dat life just happens and anything is possible.
Well, so now, what do we do? Do we roll ovah and play dead? Do we blame evahbody? Do we break down and cry, wallow in self-pity and do nothing ’bout it? Do we take it out pon we poor lil children and abuse dem? Do we commit suicide and hope tuh escape the stress.
Remember, life happens and it will continue tuh happen until the Creator decide tuh stop it from happening. So what we have tuh do is roll wid the punches, make the most of it, and live.
• Mavis Beckles was born and raised in The Orleans. She has an opinion on everything.