Friday, March 29, 2024

MAVIS BECKLES: A time to make uh dollar

Date:

Share post:

The other day I was reading my Bible and come across the verse in Ecclesiastes dat says, tuh everything there’s a time and a season and then I remember how the old people always used tuh say, today fuh you, tomorrow fuh me.

Dat is so true. If you take the time tuh stop and look at it, you would see dat it is really true.

Now, fuh instance, in recent times a lot o’ people have been having it rough in duh various businesses and have been crying out ’bout how lean and hard times are. Some businesspeople have been barely making it because o’ the present situation in Barbados. People have had tuh cut back on all sorts o’ things, making it hard fuh the businesses dat was turning ovah a good penny fuh a long time but who now gotta be scraping the bucket.

Dat is what I mean by a time and a season. Ya see right now nuh matter if ya got money or ya ain’t got nuh money, ya gotta find the money tuh sort out the children who going back in tuh school bright and early Monday morning.

​So it is a time fuh the many barbers all ovah the island tuh haul in a piece o’ change off o’ the hundreds o’ li’l boys who had all sorts o’ fancy hairstyles during the summer vacation.

​​No mohawks

​​Ya know duh cahn enter the people schools wid nuh mohawks, so dah gotta cut dem off. Duh cahn grace dem school doors wid nuh stars nor fancy designs cut out in duh heads, so dem too gotta cut off.

Doan talk ’bout the lot o’ bleached out patches or the ones wid the dye. All o’ dat have tuh be off come Monday morning. So the barbers all ’cross the island gine be busy as bees all this weekend. It is their time now tuh make a dollar.

Now dem is the boys, but the girls ain’t gine be nuh different.

​Ya see, duh got a lot o’ ladies who doan wash nor plait duh children hair fuh all sorts o’ reasons, like maybe, the child’s hair might be too thick and long fuh dem tuh manage or, simple, duh cahn plait all the new-fashion styles the children does wear nowadays and ya know how follow-pattern the lil girls are. Doan talk bout dramatic.

​And some o’ these modern-day mothers ain’t got dat kinda time nor patience tuh be sitting down wid nuh bawling child in front o’ dem saying dem plaiting nuh hair.

Apart from dat, some o’dem ain’t gine want tuh brek off dem long expensive designer fingernails dat dem pay summuch money for. So this weekend the salons gine be full o’ li’l girls.

Dem is the li’l girls, but the big girls now is a different story.

​​Salons full

​​While some o’ dem gine have tuh be getting all the donkey hair cut off duh head and the hair dye wash out, some o’ dem gine be in the salons tuh get duh hair texturised. So while the salons weren’t making nuh big lot in recent times, duh gine make some now.

Another set o’ people who gine make a dollar is the needleworkers who does make children school uniforms. Ya see, evahbody doan go in Town and buy the ones off the shelves, duh still got a lot o’ people who like tuh still go tuh the needleworker, so dem too gine get a piece o’ change in duh hands.

Now, you and I know dat the children, especially the boys, does grow like wildfire in the summer and it looks like by dem not wearing shoes all day long; it like it does make duh feet get much bigger than when school closed in July. So you would know dat parents have tuh buy shoes and shoes doan cost ten cents nowadays.

​Not dat alone: duh have tuh buy dem just before duh go in tuh school too; otherwise if duh buy dem too early, by the time duh ready tuh put dem on, the shoes gine be too small. So the shoe stores gine make money.

Then duh is the bookstores, stationeries and a good few other places dat gine haul in a good few needed dollar bills due tuh school opening.

​• Mavis Beckles was born and raised in The Orleans. She has an opinion on everything.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Related articles

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...

Minister Abrahams’ statement on Ismail Patel’s passing

Below is the full statement by Minister of Home Affairs and Information, Wilfred Abrahams: I was saddened to...