Dear Nesta,
When I write de date ‘pon dis letter, I had to stop an’ wonder jes’ whey de time gone dat we could be in de monf o’ December a’ready! It flyin’ so fas’ – two years mussee gettin’ counk as one – we might jes’ be able to get to de 100-mark – providin’ we don’ leh stress tek over an’ kill we firs’!
Right now, Buhbayduss got almos’ t’irty 100-year ole’s – includin’ de worl’s secon’ oldes’ man – an’ it is only Japan dat got mo’ dan we! I wonder ef we ’ppreciate how bless-ed Buhbayduss is, an’ aldoh I en gine so far as to say “God is a Bajan”, ’E mussee some relation! It all well an’ good to show off dat we got summuch 100-year oles, but we still need to treat dem wid de love an’ respeck duh deserve.
I read dat Hammie – a true champion o’ de poor an’ elderly – callin’ fuh better elderly care, but we shun only lef it to Guvment to do evaht’ing! I know mos’ o’ we mo’ busy dan a “worker bee” tryin’ to ketch de impossible, but in slowin’ down li’l bit, we jes’ might ketch sight o’ somebody ethuh dan weself in need o’ some help! I lucky to know some carin’ youngsters, but a lotta de res’ en got de time o’ day fuh anybody over t’irty! An’ ef yuh hit fifty or over, yuh shoulda lef’ de Departure Lounge long time, an’ boardin’ yuh flight!
But we shun we fuhget dat apart from good genes, dese 100-year oles had a far diff’rent way o’ life dan wuh we gine t’rough now. Apart from eatin’ food widout summuch pesticides an’ walkin’ long distances, de game o’ grabbin’ an’ gettin’ dat exis’ all over de worl’ today din tek over yet, so stress was somet’ing onknown! De pace o’ life was much slower an’ people had time fuh one aneduh! I wonder hummuch o’ we dat born in de forties an’ upwards would live to see 100 years? I en tekkin’ no bets! De stress we got to deal wid today is onbelievable!
Perhaps it is de lotta stress dat mos’ o’ we facin’ nowadays, but people always seem ready to snap at yuh or ruff yuh up fuh no reason a-tall. An’ when it come to road rage, Lord have ‘Is mercy! I en know how Bajans get so! So, we really mus’ commen’ NISE fuh all de hard wuk duh been puttin’ in, tryin’ to impress ’pon Bajans dat it easier to smile dan to frown. Maybe de programmes en mekkin’ headway as fas’ as duh should, but yuh could see li’l change in some people! Dis lates’ idea – Courtesy Month – is a good one’, an’ I hope it bear fruit, but somet’ing ’bout it got muh smilin’!
Now, evah sence I was small, I always hear onmannerly people get refer to as “pigs”, so yuh could imagine how amusin’ it is to see NISE decide to dress up a pig in hat an’ coat, name it “Percy” an’ set it up ’pon billboards to explain how mannerly it is to say “Thank You”, “Please”, “Excuse Me”, an’ in de newspapers, pointin’ out nuff ethuh t’ings to mek we mo’ courteous in life! Fancy! A pig wid manners!
I en onderstan’ why NISE should choose a pig as we teacher! As far as I know, nobody evah look ‘pon pigs as polite animals, an’ ef it now come dat Bajans got to learn from dem how to treat one aneduh, well, somet’ing wrong! But Philomena say it only go to show dat even pigs could change fuh de better! I always hear it tek a li’l chile to lead we, but Courtesy Month open muh eyes an’ put muh ‘pon de right track! Yuh see how yuh never too ole to learn? Right on, Percy!
Tek care o’ yuhself.
Yuh frien’ Babsie
