Submitted by HAMILTON HILL
As a young man fresh out of school and a recent member of the work force in what was at that time a very placid public sector in beautiful Barbados, I evoked the ire of my boss who had consented to a day off, presumably through an acute case of diarrhea only to find me seated in the law courts, a favourite pastime I had developed back then. On the spot I was fired.
Years later in a different country and working in a much less tolerant society, I almost suffered the same fate as I pulled my truck to a halt on a Connecticut highway at the sound of the voice of one Clyde Mascoll on Brass Tacks this past week. For fear that the signal that feeds the Smart Phone might be lost, the dumb ass that owns the same made the decision that this load would have to wait. Even though I know full well that global satellite provides the type of scrutiny of which local politicians know nothing, I took the chance. I listened, I took notes and I concocted a reason why dispatch was not notified of what turned into a twenty five minute break.
That evening while I sipped a cocktail of vodka and tonic I started to tell the BU family how they too should be as insulted as I was, that this man Clyde Mascoll had not gotten it. I started to remind all that this was the same person who made the claim that there was no integrity in the Barbados Nation, then months later became a columnist at that same institution. How this same person who now repudiated the Old Testament spent his whole life preaching from the same. I asked the question, how could any right thinking person put stock in anything that came from this man’s mouth? Then my wife directed me to a post written by Caswell Franklyn dated Nov.14 at 1:00 am.
Usually I am able to relieve the stress of any work day with the consumption of a cocktail or two, but given the fact that I had just dodged the bullet of dismissal all because of poor judgement on the part of none other than myself, its now a hard day’s night and this vodka aint saying nothing. That post by Caswell Franklyn did however.
With the desktop substituted for my wife’s iPad, the vodka and tonic replaced by a mixture of Andrews and Pepto Bismal, the sickening feeling that came from within seemed intensive. Who knew that DENIAL could have such effects? That after those who could least afford to pay were forced to, and then that remittance never found its rightful home made me sick to the stomach. Many a small business person would have had to find by any means necessary a way to pay VAT.
In denial I never wanted to accept the fact that like so many other things in our Barbados perhaps VAT does not apply to VIP or those with that special connection. That this information came from Caswell Franklyn and not from the big wigs that form the BAJ, that seek to shape public opinion brought the puke from the pit of my bowels, and now brings this confession from my lips. Clyde as much as I despise anything you may claim to stand for, I will never again be critical of you, for all that you have done is what we as Bajans have come to accept.
Why should you be any different?
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