MAVIS BECKLES: The beginning of things tuh come

Well finally the Prime Minister has set and announced the date fuh the general election and so the race is now on.
Look, in dat short space o’ time dat the news come out, wherevah ya turn, ya seeing posters and big able billboards carrying the faces o’ the candidates. It look tuh me like the candidates had evahthing piled up there just waiting fuh the announcement tuh come, just tuh spring in tuh action.
So now it is all systems go fuh the two parties and if you ain’t see dem yet in your area canvassing, doan fear, duh ain’t get there yet but I could guarantee dat duh gine come ’cause lemmuh tell ya, evah single vote counts. This is a serious election, a serious gine down and look; duh ain’t got much time neither, Freundel saw tuh dat.
Now when duh come at your house asking fuh ya vote, you gine know dem, ya have tuh see dem; duh ain’t like the Jehovah Witness people who does walk all round ya house every other day, softly knocking at evah door and window saying morning.
Dem more deliberate and a li’l presumptuous and duh does knock and shout good morning or good evening wid more confidence. The other thing is dat one party does wear bright yellow and the other one does wear bright red so ya have tuh see dem.
The other day me and my next door neighbour was talking ’bout the elections and she ask me if I voting. I had tuh pause and then I tell her dat I ain’t too sure ’cause I wasn’t too impressed wid the two people duh had running up here by me, so if I vote it might only be fuh the party and I really doan like doing dah foolishness, I ain’t nuh yardfowl.
Anyway I, like a lot o’ people, cahn tell ya wha’ gine happen when the dust clears but one thing I gine tell ya is dat it gine be a tight election wid a lot o’ surprises. Who wasn’t, will be and who ya expect tuh be, won’t be but I can assure you dat this election gine be totally different from the ones gone before. All I could tell ya’all is sit back, relax, listen and watch ’cause we in fuh some real drama.
Another piece o’ news dat has caused a lot o’ drama ’bout here in the past few years is the Jeff Broomes, teachers and Alexandra saga and while some o’ the teachers who got transferred might be still pon sick leave, Mr Jeff Broomes has drove his car into the Parkinson Secondary School yard, parked it, got out and took up the role of the principal. Hal-le-lu-yer! Finally!
When I opened my newspaper and see pictures o’ Broomes meeting and greeting the students at Parkinson Secondary School, I was more than please. I am sure dat even though it might appear tuh some people tuh be a demotion or wha’evah duh choose tuh call it, I see this move and change as a great opportunity fuh Broomes tuh use his many years of experience tuh bring this school tuh a very high standard. I believe dat his presence there will make a big difference.
Ya see, some people doan evah see the bigger picture but I believe dat even though change in most cases is real real hard, it is necessary; otherwise, more often than not, we would go on doing the same things ovah and ovah again, thinking dat we evah suh hot, not realizing dat we have become boring, stale and stagnant.
I truly believe dat Parkinson School is the better fuh having Broomesy there wid dem and I believe dat he is going tuh do a very good job there too.
In the newspaper article I read the note dat his daughter wrote tuh him and I gine tell ya, she is a very wise girl and if he takes the advice of his daughter, he is going tuh do well in bringing a different light tuh the students and teachers of the Parkinson Secondary School.  
I pray dat God will be with you as you map out this different path and I also pray for the politicians as they take this journey dat they will put God before dem.
• Mavis Beckles was born and raised in The New Orleans. She has an opinion on everything.