Life in this here United States

Feb 05, 2012 Features / Columnists, My Column

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I have lived in Guyana almost all my life and I have seen the naked desire in the eyes of people whenever someone mentions New York or Canada. There have been a belief that New York or Canada are the lands of the proverbial milk and honey, the countries where jobs are easy to get and where there are jobs that pay better than many in Guyana.
Where this perception started is no secret. At one time the place to go was London and Guyanese flocked there. Then the United States emerged as the final destination and again Guyanese went there in their numbers. Some people believe that there are more Guyanese living in the United States than there are people living in half of Guyana.
Indeed, the early arrivers did well. They undertook the first job they could get, many of them using forged documents but in those days there was no Department of Homeland Security. These were the people who helped the rumour around and who caused the pull factor to the extent that so many more Guyanese are only too keen to travel to the United States.
Some went there illegally using every available method and others went on holiday and stayed. They are finding out that the jobs disappeared even more so after the economic crisis hit in 2007.
I happened to visit the United States this time around, much as I hate the winter. Had this time been like the traditional winters, I would have been in Guyana. Why do I hate the winter? The cold causes my lips to crack, my hands and feet to freeze and my nose to burn. I have to wear more clothes than I normally would just to keep warm.
And for those who feel that those are minor considerations, they should be in a hurry to go to the bathroom.
This time around having had to travel to be with my boss for his daughter’s wedding, I found time to indulge in a Guyanese pastime—drink beer and keep repeating what the situation in Guyana is like.  At one time I got a little disgusted that I said to a few fellows that they should go home for a while. Then I learnt that most are not working.
There was a fellow whom I knew back when and had not seen for some time. There I was, standing on Liberty Avenue in the not too cold weather when he screamed, “My cousin. God bless my eyesight.” He was dressed to the nines but then he said that he was looking for a job and wanted to know whether if I was in a position to help him.
I don’t live in the United States so the likelihood of my finding a job for him is all but non-existent. However, I have friends and relatives who may know of an opening somewhere. But the fact that he is not a legal immigrant would make things difficult unless he latches on to someone who is working off the books in the construction trade.
But it is not all doom and gloom. There were those of my friends who really made it and they spared no pains in letting me realize that that they had it made. More than a few talked about Ed Ahmad and some of the people who suffered at his hands. Again I met a few of the victims.
I saw their homes that they are about to lose but none of them is prepared to cut their losses and return to Guyana. Indeed many people talk about coming back home after they would have qualified for their pension and social security. All are talking about buying their homes so Guyana can rest assured that there will be a continuous need for homes as their will be a corresponding rise in the number of senior citizens.
There is an upside to living in the United States, though. In Guyana, more than ninety per cent of the cars are used cars. That is the best, it seems, that we could buy. But the amount of money we pay for these contraptions is astonishing. A car that would be worth no more than a million Guyana dollars in the States would be worth three times that amount when it lands in Guyana. And we buy with a smile.
Nobody is pressing the government to lower the duty and consumption taxes on cars, and the government is continuing perhaps for good reason. At the rate people are buying cars in Guyana had the vehicles been any cheaper than there would have been no space to drive.
But there are young people who buy working cars for as little as US$500. That is how just about every young punk can be seen driving on the roads. Of course things like insurance are much, much higher than in Guyana so perhaps this limits the access to cars.
There is another upside. The people who run boutiques would make a killing at this time. The summer clothes from last year are there to knock dog. The warehouses are full so all one has to do is buy then return to Guyana and sell at handsome prices after first announcing a sale of the old stock. That sale would merely help the vendor to recoup any money spent on the clothing and the buyers would jump at the bargain, being none the wiser.
And another thing. Although I live and work in Guyana it is not amazing that those who claim that Guyana is a hard place to live would keep asking me for a raise.

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