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Opening my appetite

Dec 24, 2008 Features / Columnists

The Parrot loves our traditions, some of which are still part of our folk culture. Many, of course, are seemingly becoming extinct like the dodo, the dinosaurs and the Blue Power people “Bird” phone. What happened? It flew away?
Anyway, whenever the holiday season approaches, or any event during which there is a bountiful variety of “eatables”, an incident during my eighteenth birthday party readily comes to mind.
I am not going to tell you when it was. I remember my “dadee” telling me to “tek a drink” for the occasion.
“Drink” as used then and still now, doesn’t refer to “cokes” or “a drinks” or “kool aid”; it meant the “hard stuff”. My “dadee” convinced me that the “drink” or “tuups” which it is sometimes referred to, would have opened my appetite, thereby better equipping me to indulge in the many delicacies that were available.
Having not “touched” the “stuff” before and having seen my “dadee” imbibing on occasions, I had no reason to doubt him; it was “bottoms up”.
I couldn’t eat for three days after that; my appetite closed. The “experienced” ones couldn’t understand why I couldn’t “stomach” the “stuff”. Even up to now I don’t know; maybe because I don’t “touch” it.
Of course my experience then and my not “touching” the “stuff” now, puts me in a category of a very small minority. Is plenty people does “touch”, or as some boys does seh, “mash” that “thing”; still referring to the hard stuff.
Plenty still use it to “open” their appetites. So come Christmas Day, plenty “opening” of appetites would be done to cater for the large volume of food to be consumed.
Some would be “opening” theirs to accommodate the other “hard stuff”.
There will be other openings too; the gifts; the ginger beer bottle; the ketchup bottle; the baked chicken to get to the stuffing; the pepper pot pot; the garlic pork pot; the curry cahari; the bar-b-que grill; the “drinks” bottle and many other related openings.
I have no reason to believe that Christmas breakfast would not “open” with prayers; giving thanks for the many bounties that would be “spread” across the table.
The Parrot is happy that many, on Christmas morning, would “bawl” out to neighbours wishing them “all de best” for the day and “exchanging” black cake, sponge cake, ginger beer and so on, even commenting on whose was better; in a Christmas spirit-way of course.
There are many traditions that are associated with the “season”; rain of course being one. That accepted, it is always heart-warming to experience these traditions on Christmas Day.
The joy of seeing gifts being opened; the happy sounds of children enjoying their “playthings” and even seeing the dogs and cats indulging in the leftovers, cannot be substituted for anything.
Of course it should not be forgotten that there are many, for various reasons, who would not be able to experience what I am alluding to. In this regard, we all can help them to experience some of this by doing what many would; share.
This tradition of sharing has to be the one that brings the most joy. After all, that’s what we want in our lives; joy.
So share and enjoy for it’s the Christmas season. On behalf of my family in our tree, I wish you the readers and the Management and staff of this paper, especially Uncle Glenn and Uncle Adam, a very merry Christmas. Squawk! Squawk!

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