I come along and hear the old people saying dat duh got more mad people out than in.
Duh was talking about the amount o’ mad-tail people dat does be walking ’bout as duh like, all ovah the place, doing as duh like, as compared tuh the ones we consider mad as France, inside the very mental hospital where we think duh belong.
Now answer me something ’cause I cahn seem tuh understand. I see it and read ’bout it in the newpaper but somehow it like it ain’t registering wid me nor making nuh kinda sense. So when I doan understand anything, I like tuh ask a question so dat somebody, anybody who know a lil’ more than me could clarify it.
Now this is my question: What does make a big able man get up one morning and decide dat he want tuh make a living ’pon somebody else’s property; then go out and collect building materials and get it dropped off ’pon the site. Build up a structure wid door and all, and decide dat this is his place of business, his establishment.
Look, I ain’t telling ya nuh lie, if ya doan laugh at some o’ the things ya see and hear happening nowadays, ya would go stark staring mad. Wha’ the France does guh wrong wid some people in trute though?
The people now spend a bundle o’ money tuh get out there by the Constitution River looking like something after years and years of it being an eyesore, wid the lot o’ dumping and the stench. Then all of a sudden and outta the blue, a man gine turn up wid he rubble and set um up ’pon the people good greening space. Well I tell ya!
He see nicely landscaped grounds and manicured grass. He see well placed rocks and a clean, flowing river and he decide dat this is where he will set up his business. A place he will leave where he lives and come tuh every morning. Ya see wha’ I mean now? The old people right, duh more mad people out than duh got in.
But duh got something else bothering me though: How come it take suh long fuh the authorities tuh see dat a shack was set up there? The man assemble it somewhere else and get it drop off there? Wha’ from day one dat should’ve been spotted or was it because people get suh accustomed tuh looking cross the bridge and seeing the shantys dat it didn’t look outta place? Well, well, well.
But suppose evahbody was tuh decide dat they have a family tuh support, dem ain’t got nuh day job and it might be easy tuh sell fruits and vegetables. So wherevah they see a lil’ opening anywhere along the road, the highway, the street, the gap, the heights or the terraces, dem would drag some pieces o’ discarded building material offa somebody site and build up a shanty and set up business, only because dem got a family tuh support. So tell me, dem is the only people who got a family tuh support?
Dat is a lot o’ crap and we gotta stop letting people come wid this kinda igrants ’bout small man and honest living and ain’t tiefing nor selling nuh drugs, got family tuh feed and a whole lot o’ foolishness.
Look, all o’ we smelling the same hell! We gine through the same thing! It ain’t nuh different fuh you than it is fuh me. The supermarkets doan charge the big man nuh more or less than duh does charge the small man, the middle man nor side man.
All o’ we does have tuh go in the supermarkets and scratch we heads; all o’ we does have tuh cut and contrive. It is about time dat this kinda foolishness stop.
Ya see this sort o’ thing ’bout people tekking up and using things dat doan belong tuh dem? Dat is why we lil’ children so, picking and carrying home things dat doan belong tuh dem.
Duh ain’t got nuh regard fuh people things nor the property. If dem come along and see the adults doing it and see nothing wrong wid it, how we then expect dem tuh do anything different. It is wrong and it gotta stop.
• Mavis Beckles was born and raised in The Orleans. She has an opinion on everything.
