Friday, March 29, 2024

THE HOYOS FILE: Giving credit where it’s due

Date:

Share post:

THIS?WEEK as we move from the long Christmas weekend into the New Year’s festivities, I thought it might be a good idea to take a moment to give credit where it’s due.
Now, while I would like to take, well, the credit for this idea, I have to be honest and say I was inspired by my bank manager, who wrote me a very nice letter signed so perfectly that you might almost think it was actually printed on a press.
This letter, which came folded up like an old-time aerogram in the mail, let me know that just in case I needed it, I had been “pre-approved” for a new $10 000 “unsecured” loan. Imagine that.
You might more appreciate the scope of this potential generosity if you remember that an unsecured loan is to a banker what a hole in the bottom of a boat is to a fisherman. They can both sink you.
Realising that I might be having a hard time having a good time at Christmas, the letter noted that “enjoying the holidays can be easier than you think”. It went on to suggest that the funds might come in handy for things like “sprucing up your home or buying gifts”.
To access this loan, all I had to do was bring along the letter plus my ID card, proof of income and, strangely, “proof of purpose for the loan”.
Just a small point: How do you prove that you have to buy gifts?
Bring pictures of the kids?
Anyway, let us not be picky.
So, giving credit where it’s due, I would first single out Prime Minister Freundel Stuart.
This is neither an endorsement nor criticism of his policies; as you know, I put in my two cents on those things all year round. Rather, it is for the sense of calm and the restrained yet notable spirit of good cheer he has brought to the country after the long, bleak period of waiting for bad news which characterised most of 2010.
Traumatic period
He has acted more like a president than a prime minister, and this has helped the country slowly move on from its most traumatic period in public life I can remember, except of course for the previous passings while in office of Tom Adams and Errol Barrow.
So, thank you, Prime Minister Stuart, for your leadership on this front. You have helped the people to move on emotionally without feeling they are neglecting the memory of the late Prime Minister.
I would also like to give credit to the people who work in the service sectors – in retail especially. I chatted with one last week and when I told her she seemed a bit tired, she said they were working seven days a week. But, not to worry, she told me, we are only doing it for a month.
Twenty-eight days straight? Are you kidding me? Nope? She was serious. We’ll make it, she said.
But it is tough working in retail at this time of year even if you are doing the normal five days out of seven, because too many customers stress themselves out just to enjoy the “perfect” Christmas, high blood pressure and all, and in doing so pile the pressure on the people serving them
in the shops and stores.
So I want to give credit to all retail sector employees and say thank you for being there when I need you to help me find the perfect gift for my family members and friends.
Postal and sanitation workers are also stretched to the limit at this time as we send more things in the mail and create more garbage through our much higher consumption levels.
So thank you, people who bring things to and take things away from our house. We could not enjoy the season without your hard work.
Unsocial hours
The same goes for our police and Defence Force personnel, and all who work in the media and emergency services, putting in the late and unsocial hours when their own partners and children are calling for them to be in the family circle at the most special time of the year.
And so, my friends, for all of you out there who from time to time have implied that my writing borders on the cynical (really, what could be further from the truth?) I hope you will try to give me at least some credit for writing a positive column this week.
I can’t tell you it has been painless, or that it came easy. It’s more fun to battle ’gainst the wrongs that need resistance, of which there is certainly no shortage.
Finally, I would like to give lots of credit to the editor of this publication who puts up with late submissions from me almost every week, and yet is always encouraging and remains calm and unruffled.
Now there’s an editor for you.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Related articles

Natassia’s journey from tragedy to triumph

In a world often characterised by turbulence and uncertainty, a beacon of hope often emerges from some of...

No decision yet on Lester Vaughan School

A firm decision has not yet been made regarding when the Lester Vaughan School will be reopened. Following a...

BDF to conduct simulation exercise on April 2 & 3

The Barbados Defence Force (BDF) will conduct a Mass Casualty Simulation Exercise from Tuesday, April 2, to Wednesday,...

Barbadians reminded to file taxes online as filing season starts

The Barbados Revenue Authority (the BRA) is advising that tax filing season for 2023 begins on April 1 this...