It’s a pity all Barbadians could not have been in attendance to hear the argument that broke out in the barbershop last Monday morning. As usual, I was texting away on my Blackberry, therefore it would have appeared to some, that I was not listening. Actually, however, I was making copious notes of the conversation, so I could relive the experience with friends and members of the Under the Microscope family. Space is limited, so, here we go:
Barber No.1 – Boy I see the Big Man reshuffle the Cabinet. What you think about the changes?
Barber No. 2 – I aint see nothing wrong with them, but I don’t like the way that man Estwick behaved.
Barber No. 1 – But that is how he gets on all the time. A big up in the party tell me that is the said same way he behaved last time and the time before. Once he gets move, he does throw a tantrum. I really thought he wasn’t going to accept the position this time around.
Barber No.2 – What freaked me out was that statement he released, talking about how time longer than twine. I find that very offensive, especially when you consider that the Big Man sick. Estwick, as a doctor, should know better! He really made himself look thin skin, uncaring and silly. That statement, as far as I am concerned, was offensive, insulting and in very poor taste.
Barber No. 1 – As far as I am concerned, Thompson should have taken back the offer of a ministry and fired him there and then. There is no way if I was a Prime Minister, a member of my government could talk to me like that. Estwick only risked that because he knows the Prime Minister sick.
Barber No. 2 – Well, I tell my girlfriend when I hear it, that if that was Barrow, Arthur or even Sandiford they would have fired him there and then. There is no way that Errol Barrow or Owen Arthur would have tolerated such nonsense from any member of their government. I remember Owen Arthur, in particular, firing ministers for far less. Owen Arthur would have gotten a letter to the Governor General within minutes of that stupid statement being issued.
Customer Nearby – Boss Man, I was saying the said same thing, but this morning when I picked up the papers I see Arthur like he defending Estwick and saying how ministers should be consulted before a reshuffle.
Barber No. 2 – You can’t be serious! Owen Arthur fired ministers in the middle of a Cabinet meeting. You didn’t hear about the time he fired Liz Thompson on the spot in Cabinet and Mia and Billie got up and walked out in support of she? I hear that when Mia said she was going to quit in support of Liz Thompson and it looked like Billie was going to follow, that Arthur threatened to dissolve the parliament and call fresh elections.
Customer Nearby – That is what had me so shocked this morning when I read what Arthur had to say about Estwick, because I know he, Arthur, only trying to edge up to Estwick now so as to get him to cross over to the Bees. That is the said same thing he did to Mascoll and Kerrie Symmonds and the same Estwick brother a few years ago. Arthur wasn’t any sweet bread when he was in there!
Barber No. 2 – You remembered when he fired Hammie Lah? I hear Hammie Lah was home putting on his clothes to go down to the ministry when he got a phone call telling him he was fired. Not that he was going to get fire. That he was fired! And the said same thing, I believe, happened to George Payne, when he was minister of Tourism. I hear Payne cried like a baby. So who Arthur thinks he fooling with this nonsense that Prime Ministers supposed to consult ministers on hiring and firings? Arthur like he would say anything to win a vote and get back in power.
Barber No. 1 – I really cannot believe that Owen Arthur came out in defense of Estwick and that awful statement that he released. But, this is politics and I suspect that he trying to get in the good books of Estwick so as to get Estwick to cross the floor and join them. One thing I could say about Estwick, he does get vex and chat a lot of foolishness but he is not disloyal. He is a true, true Dem!
Customer Nearby – Boy Arthur really desperate to get back in there, you hear what I tell you? I hear he supporting George Payne, whom he never used to speak to, to run against Mia Mottley for the Chairmanship of the party. Can you imagine George Payne and Owen Arthur working together on anything? Politics does really make for strange bedfellows. Anyhow, they tell me that if George Payne wins as Chairman, it is all over, bar the shouting, for Mottley, because Arthur would then challenge her for the leadership of the party. I hear he would win, because six of the nine members on the opposition side in parliament firmly against Mottley, so that would give him a clear majority.
Barber No. 2 – I don’t follow politics to that extent, but I really had to laugh this morning when I read how Arthur say that Thompson abusing his powers as Prime Minister, just because he moved Estwick. This is the same Arthur who cursed people, black as white, from the floor of Parliament, knowing that nobody could sue him. This is the same Owen Arthur who called Harold Hoyte a Negrocrat and the journalist Terry Ali, the son of an indentured servant. Arthur really believes that Bajans got short memories.
Customer Nearby – All of this is turning my mind off of politics. Arthur was in there for 14 years and he got knocked out. I really do not see why he can’t stand down and give Mia a chance. If she loses, then he could come back later on or let somebody else replace her. But I feel it is unfair for him to try to knock out the girl even before she fights one election.
Barber No. 1 – And what makes Arthur feel that he got the right to be Prime Minister of Barbados again anyhow? He had his time and he messed it up! He should go home and rest himself. The BLP got in a whole set of other people who could lead it if Mottley gets beaten. I really don’t see why Arthur getting so desperate all of a sudden. He has gone from saying nothing to now saying everything. Every day you open your newspaper, he talking about something or the other. It is really sickening, as far as I am concerned.
Lady at the front desk – The gentleman there with the phone in his hand, you are next in the chair!
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