In the building of reputations, be it in tourism attractions, or in a doctor’s practice, even for the best laundry soap, nothing is as immediately effective as the power of word-of-mouth. Hearing a recommendation from someone about a travel destination (particularly for family groups) is like gold because the appraisal, unlike the expensive four-colour magazine ads, is not a pitch biased in favour of the property. It is coming from someone you know, no punches pulled, the minus with the plus, which allows you to make a decision based on reliable appraisal instead of advertising hype. Similarly, when persons are in need of professional medical help, the name of a reliable doctor, based on the experience of a close friend or relative, will almost always mean a new patient for the doctor and a person now satisfied that his/her health concerns are in good hands. Admittedly, there are times when someone else’s word-of-mouth appraisal may not be what you experience, but as a rule we pay attention to those reports, even on the laundry soap, because they come with no strings.
As this particularly pivotal election looms for Guyana, it is important to keep in mind that politicians also know only too well the value of word-of-mouth and that they will respond to it. Having said that, however, living again in Guyana, it has been my observation that we are a people who don’t seem too inclined to interact frankly with our political leaders on the issues that concern us. (I am obviously not referring here to public voices such as Christopher Ram, Freddie Kissoon, et al, who are regularly doing it; I’m speaking about the private person.) I witnessed a stark example of this reluctance at a recent public function where I noticed a friend of mine, off to one side, in a very animated huddle with two very senior politicians (one Government, one Opposition). The conversation ran for several minutes, replete with vigorous finger pointing, adamant shaking of
