Dear Editor,
For quite a while now I’ve been observing various business entities supporting cultural and religious events and there is one snackette which seems to support almost all events. Because of this kind gesture I would support this snackette whenever possible. On Tuesday, August 23 at 12.20pm I was in this snackette making a purchase when I noticed an elderly man asking for some water. In a rude tone the young man responded loudly, “Wha appen tu yuh?” In a somewhat embarrassed way the man repeated his request. The young man then approached a woman who seemed to be in charge and she said that they don’t have water.
Immediately I felt disgusted, and instructed her to give the man a bottle which I paid for, whilst saying that some people were really unreasonable. If the man was a beggar his appearance didn’t convince me, because he was dressed more presentably than I was.
That same night I was catching up with some friends at the Route 32 Park in Georgetown and I noticed the city constables chasing off the vendors with push carts who were selling water while other vendors selling alcohol and cigarettes were allowed to keep selling. This gave rise to the suspicion that some were willing to give the constables a ‘small piece’ to allow them to keep vending. Meanwhile the 32 minibuses was coming from various directions and trying to get to the front and parking in all sorts of ways and the constable couldn’t get them to park in an orderly manner because the leader of the unruly minibuses was a police officer who was driving one of the minibuses and other bus operators were telling the constable that if she could not remove him they were not going to listen to her.
Editor, wherever I am and I observe any commotion, curiosity kicks in. I heard a noise at the public convenience outpost provided by Cevons waste management and I heard a lady asking the man running the facility if he ‘ain’t got heart’ because it was a little girl using the toilet and she had to pay $200. One of my friends who was with me said that every night when the man takes over he doubles the price that is being charged to use the restroom, and many times people would take issue with him. Either they are being paid a low wage and they have to make a hustle to get some more money, or management is slack.
Yours faithfully,
Sahadeo Bates
