BUT LOOKA WHA’ dem gone and do now. You think it is fair fuh dem tuh interfere wid the thing dat Bajans love suh much and cahn do widout?
You think dem should go and raise the price o’ flour? Who tell dem do dat nuh?
Look, I gine tell you now, Bajans love a piece o’ flour. Duh love duh fish cakes; duh love bakes; duh love bread and twos; ham cutters, cheese cutters, sweet bread, salt bread, and anything dat got in flour. I ain’t mekking nuh sport. Look, Bajans just love flour.
It is only a few poor-great ones who does play dem talking ’bout how dem doan eat white bread; dat dem does only eat the whole wheat or whole grain and dah sorta thing so, but at the end o’ the day it is still flour. I tell you, duh love flour.
That is why when the rains start tuh tumble down duh does be running fuh cover suh hard; they probably think dat because o’ the lot o’ flour dem does be consuming, they might moult away if duh get tuh much wet.
I know what I telling you, okay? But if you doubt me, go and stand up by the bakery door up there at Pricesmart when the day come and watch each time the workers come out wid the trolley full o’ salt breads.
Look, before the body could get from dat bakery door tuh the place where the salt bread should be, all does be gone – and I mean gone wid a capital G.
If you evah think dat you gine come there and find the odd package lying around like pon a supermarket shelf, ya got another thought coming.
Look, I stand up and watch people waiting patiently fuh the bread tuh come out and duh does follow the body all the way pass the cashier and out by the cakes.
And before he or she could put a package o’ bread pon the shelf, the people does be taking dem off by the threes and fours.
Then there’s the cakes, cookies and pastries from in there, in at Bakers Mart in Eagle Hall, Purity in Collymore Rock, Carter’s in St George pon a Sunday night, at the Super Centres, Zephirin’s in Tudor Bridge, the place in Sheraton food court, the one up there in White Hall where the people does got the road block off when the evening come waiting fuh duh bread; and all the other bakeries all round dat they cahn resist.
I come along and hear the old time people like my grandmother talking ’bout “Good flour nevah sour” and growing up in a big family, when the Wednesday come, you could expect soup; not just any kind o’ soup ya know, I talking ’bout good old fashion soup wid evahthing in it and doan fuhget dem dumplings at all hear? Evah man had tuh get at least two good big ones.
Then when we did growing up there was the biscuits in the big tins and the ones at school when ya used tuh get milk and biscuits.
Ting, it ain’t yesterday dat we did like flour ya know.
We grow up pon flour; we know dat when ya get real hungry, the first thing the bigger ones in the family used tuh do was search through the larder tuh find something, anything tuh cook and most o’ the times it used tuh be bakes and a long glass o’ water tuh wash it down.
This is why I could understand people quarelling and carrying on ’bout flour gine up.
• Mavis Beckles was born and raised in The Orleans. She has an opinion on everything.
