Excitement comes in many packages

Oct 03, 2010 Features / Columnists, My Column

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By Adam Harris

Life throws many curves at an individual and I suppose that if life was a straight line then it would have been boring. If everything was bad all through life and there were no bright spots then more people would have been suicidal.
On the other hand, if life was all good then there would have been an equal number of boring people and again the number of suicides would have been extremely high. Evidence of this exists all over the world. In Guyana we had the son of a very rich man killing himself with a gun. He was a teenager and obviously bored with something.
Then we had the young girls who, again from rich families, found no purpose in living. One leapt from the lip of Kaieteur Falls and another shot herself.
The fact that life offers twists and turns is therefore a good thing for many of us. I have had my share of twists and turns and I suppose I am still meandering my way along these. Just this weekend I had to cope with the news that my son presented himself as a guest of the state because he could not resist the bottle.
Of course he is a grown man and people keep saying that he is old enough to paddle his own canoe. That may be true, but I still feel responsible being a father and knowing that whatever he does, affects others, not least his wife and children.
Sometimes people look for excitement by simply looking at what others do. I got a call informing me that a housing scheme was going up on the Plaisance foreshore. This is nothing new. People are building anywhere they can find a suitable plot of land.
What made this piece of news interesting was the fact that prominent people were building there. They called the name of President Bharrat Jagdeo. He was the attention and the source of this exciting piece of news. An individual building a house can never be news, but the President is no ordinary individual so immediately his foray into home construction made news.
I decided to investigate at the insistence of those who wanted to know and indeed it is true. I found out that the land did not come cheap and that many prominent people had grasped the opportunity to grab land there. In the end, a high priced community is springing up where cows once walked and where young lovers stole quiet moments in the moonlight. The place was also an area where the timid feared to tread.
I then did some further investigation and found that those who had ventured to build in the vicinity are happy. Those who ventured to build there many decades ago are now feeling vindicated in their decision. Suddenly the value of their property is skyrocketing. In addition, there would be increased security because prominent people like to sleep undisturbed.
There is going to be the attendant infrastructural development because as I said, the land does not come cheap.
One man actually said that he was not aware that the land had gone for sale so I asked him whether he checked the advertising section in the newspapers and the official gazette. He did neither. I then asked him whether he thought that he could have afforded a plot there. Again, his answer was in the negative.
But the fact that something exciting was happening created a spark in what would have been a mundane life.
It was the same with a neighbour of mine who happened to be in the vicinity when Mark Caesar was gunned down. My neighbour was drinking at a nearby pub. Drinking does provide a spark in daily life as does ending up in the arms of the law. But that is another story.
My neighbour said that he saw two cars, one driven by the now dead Caesar and another with unknown people. He never expected his excitement level to rise until the first gunshot rang out. He saw an execution firsthand and the sight far surpassed the bout of drinking he was undertaking to expand his mood.
He does not run because of age and the problem with his ancient legs. He ran Friday evening and at top speed and the only place he could think of running to was his home. He had to share his excitement so he told all who would listen what he saw and I suppose he embellished the story, although not by much because horror is something that is not easily distorted.
I prefer to get my excitement in other ways. The other day I happened to be driving along the road when a car failed to stop at the major road. It drove across the road and into my path. I got excited indeed and had it not been for some discipline—I always tell myself to expect the worst and I shall never be disappointed—I might have had a most embarrassing experience that would have warranted me going home for a shower.
Another time I was flying in the hinterland when we encountered bad weather. Imagine sitting in a small plane that is bouncing all over the place. The flight had originated in Suriname and a female diplomat was on board.
I was scared but I put on a brave face and told myself that I had no control over what was to happen. The diplomat was something else. She grabbed my hand and let her nails do the talking. My legs did not escape her attention.
When we landed at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport her relief was beyond description. The marks on my arms and legs also defied description. I have since wondered at the possibility of stains on her underwear. Excitement does strange things to people.

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