Not so good a Friday

Apr 10, 2009 Features / Columnists

The Parrot takes this opportunity to wish all, especially the Christian community, the best on this sombre day of Good Friday.
Is there a greeting like “Happy Good Friday”? I am not sure. While it’s still a solemn day, the way it is being observed has changed over the years. In the past, some non-Christians concluded it to be a day, which lacked any semblance of excitement.
Before television became an integral part of local life, radio, cinema and the corner shop provided entertainment and excitement. There were a few other things, but the day, given what it is, mentioning these is not advised.
Then, on Good Fridays, cinemas did not operate, radio was in a sombre mood and the corner shops (you know which type) were closed; they were prohibited from selling alcoholic beverages.
As a result, one was generally forced to stay at home and tend to the garden or put the “cast net” to use in nearby trenches.
To compound matters, it used to rain heavily on Good Fridays, so much so that there was a tradition of placing a receptacle to catch the rain drops, which served after as “holy water”.
Also, some of the said water was placed in a glass and the contents of a fresh egg were released in it.
According to the tales then, the shape (s) formed in the glass was (were) seen as an insight to one’s destiny; a boat meant you would travel and so on. During that period, I recall falsely building excitement and hope in the children of the neighbourhood by promising to take them to the cinema on Good Friday.
The enthusiasm of the children and the enormous magnetic effect of cinema then allowed, unfortunately, for the children to be dejected afterwards.
In retrospect, I regret such pranks. But, those were the good Good Fridays. Today the same cannot be said, unfortunately.
The boom in the television industry has negated related boredom if one were to stay home on a now Good Friday. We can argue about the general programming, but some stations are movie havens. This, whilst welcomed by some non-Christians, provided the opportunity for the screening of some movies with undesirable content for such a day. If the movie is not deemed offensive in taste, some local advertisements provide material that may be lacking in a “clean” film. Again, unfortunately. This distastefulness is, unfortunately, not confined to “R”-rated movies or advertisements; it extends to some corner shops (which are now much more enhanced) that open on Good Friday and sell alcoholic beverage as if it were happy-hour on a regular Friday afternoon.
This is disgusting and shows blatant disregard for the rule of law and for the solemnity of Good Friday. I am informed that it is still a transgression of the law for alcoholic beverages to be sold between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on a Good Friday.
If this is the case, one can only hope that, as far as practicable, it can be enforced; the law that is.
Yes, I will agree with those who will say time has changed. Indeed, just one cinema now exists; the many television stations have seemingly replaced radio; the “cast net” has been replaced by the fishmonger at your doorstep and the many supermarkets, and even the rains on Good Friday have changed due to climate change.
Yes times have changed; Good Friday now seems not so good. By the way, why is it called Good Friday when someone was crucified on a cross? Enlighten me. Squawk! Squawk!

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