As it is wherever one lives, a part of life in Guyana is the frequent complaints on various matters that confront us, day to day. Previously seen only in our newspapers, this litany of grumbling, if I can term it that, has now been expanded to the various online platforms, such as Facebook, and, to some extent, even in talk radio, for those of us who follow that form. Along with the others, I plead guilty to occasionally adding my own grouse to the mix, but today I pause to mention that almost every time I do it, I can expect to get a note from this friend or that chiding me for not seeing the whole picture. In that group I have to single out well known writer Ian McDonald as well as musician/businessman George Jardim, who are always urging me to properly consider the whole picture, not just the cracks – an admonition I take to heart from those two persons for whom I have much respect. Mr. Jardim, in particular, often takes the more subtle approach in that he will agree with some complaint I’m making, but then he almost always adds a follow up, introduced by the words “but then”, in which he points to some other area in the culture where we have much to be grateful for.
