as told to BC PIRES

MY NAME is Terrell Inniss and I'm a dispatch operator at the seaport.

I'm called Terrell. Never Terry.

I'm originally from Storey Gap, Codrington Hill, St Michael.

I didn't have boy days in Codrington Hill. But I did my fair share of running 'bout mostly at my cousin's in Wanstead.

I don't mind corporal punishment in schools. I never got punished so I guess that's why I don't mind. Beating children into shape is not the way to go. It's a definite last resort. I think it's a deterrent, like the death penalty.

There's a definite plantation mentality in Barbados. In the wider Caribbean, it seems we're adopting a lot of stuff from overseas. We're not nurturing our own culture, people, anything Caribbean. We're just continuing the cycle, just like a plantation.

I was very proud of Trinidad and Tobago in the Airtel T20 Champions competition. I was disappointed in the final but still proud to see a Caribbean team go that far and get that sort of support.

I used to smoke a pack a day and drink, too, but don't any more. One, it's a huge waste of money; and, two, there's no gain in it.

I'm a big movie fan. But the most recent movie I've seen was Jackie Brown, and that was 1997. I don't mean I saw it in 1997. I saw it a couple' days ago, but it was an old film, made in '97.

I like Quentin Tarantino. And I like how Spike Lee does stuff. If we go back, I like the movie Citizen Kane. I did a couple film courses.

I went to Cuba for two years on a Government scholarship. My first year was just learning Spanish. My second year was law.

My favourite movie of all time is Amores Perros. I watched it in Spanish, in Cuba. There was no need for me to put on English subtitles because we went to school in Spanish.

I mostly watch films on DVD. One, cinemas in Barbados are getting very expensive and, two, by the time shows get here, they're almost always on DVD.

I watch only full-screen DVDs. I know I lose one-third of the picture but I still prefer that to seeing those black bars above and below on the TV.

My goal is to become some sort of representative for Barbados in Latin America.

It's because I speak Spanish that I found work in the tourist industry. I started as a tour guide and over the last four years I've moved up. As a tour guide, I'd get to interact with about 30 people a day. With dispatching, I interact with three, 400 people a day and about 100 of them are Spanish.

My job is to make everything as seamless as possible for cruise ship visitors. I stand in a booth 'pon mornings. I have a couple support staff telling whoever to come to me. I check tickets, I board, I call buses, just make sure everything runs smoothly.

I call the tourist attractions before the buses even leave, so they know how many people are coming, exactly what they want, everything.

A typical workday would start at 8 a.m. and finish about 3 p.m. My last tour goes off at about 2:30 p m. Depending on the ship, someone else might come to greet them coming back in but, by 3 p.m., that's me for the day.

Arrivals have come down significantly. A couple' years ago, when the Carnival Victory or Destiny came in, every booth at the port would be riddled, a huge amount of people would be jammed up in that space. Now, you can see from one side to the other.

My girlfriend, Janine, and I have discussed marriage and children. But we've agreed, one, school has to finish; and, two, we have to organise ourselves in the world first, before we bring other people into it. The marriage part might happen soon.

I have a general Christian belief. But I disagree with a couple of things. Adam & Eve is a bit sketchy. There's a lot of things people take literally in The Bible but it's a matter of understanding.

Science says the Theory of Evolution is a fact. Religion says no. I think it's a mixture, somewhere where both can exist. Evolution is a possibility. I watched a documentary about a highly sophisticated monkey who was actually using tools to crack open a nut. The fact that a monkey could be doing this shows evolution is possible.

The best thing about my job is getting to meet people. I met a guy from Kazakhstan. I didn't know it was a real place. It's defnintely not the way Borat portrayed it.

I don't like the closed-mindedness of Bajans. We don't try to do big things. Only young people try to do big things today. I don't see a drive.

The worst part of my job is the attitude of some people. It's a service business. A lot of problems are not my fault but I get blamed. A tour doesn't leave at the time it's supposed to because the bus driver is caught in traffic. People might be distressed, after standing waiting for the tour for some time. If I give an excuse that someone could easily avoid by leaving earlier or taking a different route, people jump on me. The people are rightfully angry and there's no way I can defend what's happening.

To me, a Bajan is someone truly proud of Barbados.

Barbados is my home. I love going on the road and hearing the dialect. I love going on Baxters Road 'pon an evening. Oistins. Fried fish. I've been other places and I like home.

It's very likely that I will marry a Trini girl. I might go to Trinidad for a couple' years. But then she's coming back to Barbados. This is where we'll live.

* Read a longer version of this article at www.BCraw.com .