As we embark on the journey to the celebration of 50 years of Independence . . . we must make the transition from nationhood to real Independence. Decolonisation remains incomplete until there is complete decolonisation of the mind.
This requires us to realise that we have to take the lead in shaping our own future; that no one anywhere owes Barbados a living. It requires us to realise that what Barbados becomes over the next 50 years will depend on how hard we are prepared to work, what sacrifices we are prepared to make, what standards we are prepared to set and to what core values we are prepared to subscribe. – Prime Minister Freundel Stuart in his 2015 Independence Day Message.
IT IS the final portion of this extract to which we pay particular attention, the portion that speaks to standards of behaviour and the core values that govern our lives.
According to the financial experts, there was an increase in commercial activity in the final quarter of the year because it seems Barbadians had more to spend on Christmas goodies. Perhaps it was this sudden acquisition of additional disposable income that led to the national embarrasment that took place at the PriceSmart store in Green Hill just days before Christmas.
Apparently, the national appetite for black cake is so strong that big men and women lost all sense of self-respect and every inhibition when it came to knocking over each other, staff and merchandise to get their hands on the precious commodity.
And as is the case with any event in Barbados these days, there was someone waiting with a phone camera to capture it and post it on Facebook for the world to see what we are becoming.
We could blame the operators of PriceSmart because this was not the first year there was a rush for their Christmas black cakes. Their records must show what the demand was before and, based on spending patterns during the year, they should have been able to predict what stocks would have been necessary.
Additionally, black cake does not have to be served hot. In fact, decent black cake, with the right amount of alcohol, will last as much as a year without even a hint of spoilage. So would it have hurt their operations to run the ovens longer so that the shelves would have been fully stocked when the doors opened?
But truth be told, the behaviour captured on video has very little to do with the business decisions of PriceSmart. It has to do with the decline in pride and the near disappearance of some core values that so many Barbadians once held sacred. What is so absolutely necessary about black cake, whether there was one or 1 000 on the bakery shelves, that would make us display such embarrasing behaviour?
Which host, intent on serving this cake on Christmas Day, would have been so belittled by his or her guests that he or she felt resorting to such crass conduct was necessary? We support Prime Minister Stuart 100 per cent because if our adults cannot restrain themselves over something as insignificant as black cake, we can only shudder to think what is in store for our country over the next 50 years when we are confronted with shortage of some critical merchandise.
Quite frankly, we should all hang our heads in collective shame over the Christmas black cake fiasco at PriceSmart. Do we now have to prepare to send soldiers into rural communities when the Barbados Water Authority water tanker finally shows up?
Permit us to twist the Prime Minister’s words into a question: “What standards are we prepared to set and to what core values are we prepared to subscribe?”
