TIME FOR MORE PEEPING TOMS

May 09, 2013 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

What happened in Ohio where three young women were held hostage in a house for over ten years without the knowledge of neighbours could never have happened here in Guyana. Never!
There is no way that any kidnapper could have kept three young women in a house as prisoners in a Guyanese neighborhood without it coming to the notice of those who lived nearby. No way!
First of all, some Peeping Tom would have been around to see when those girls were taken into that home. And some nosy neighbour would have met the occupant of that home and said, “I notice like you have visitors.”
There is no way, also, that any person is going to buy chains to chain those girls in that house and some nosy neighbour was not going to notice what the guy purchased.
There are neighbours in Guyana who just by looking at your shopping bags can tell you what you purchased, where you purchased it from and even the order in which the teller cashed the items.
We have experts in Guyana who spend all day just looking through their windows minding your business more than their own. No way, those guys who lived in that house were going to buy any chains in Guyana without somebody wanting to know what they were doing with it.
For that matter, there is no way those girls could have been kept locked up in any house in Guyana for so long without being seen by some Peeping Tom. They would have been spotted.
One day a neighbour would have walked next door and asked for a tray of ice, a feg of garlic, or an onion. And the nosy neighbour would have said, “You have a nice home. How come you never invited me over to see what the inside look like?” And the neighbour would have waltzed straight through the house and found those girls.
In Guyana somebody is always coming to borrow something. Reminds me of a story many years ago. A man was in court for a double murder, and the judge said, “You are charged with beating your wife to death with a hammer.”
A voice at the back of the courtroom yelled out, “You bastard!”
The judge continued, “You are also charged with stabbing your mother-in-law to death with a screw driver.”
Again, the voice at the back of the courtroom yelled out, “You damned bastard!”
The judge stopped, looked at the man in the back of the courtroom, and said, “Sir, I can understand your anger and frustration at this crime, but I will not have any more of these outbursts from you, or I shall charge you with contempt! Now what is the problem?”
The man at the back of the court stood up and responded, “For fifteen years, I have lived next door to that bastard, and every time I asked to borrow a hammer or a screwdriver, he said he never had one!”
You cannot hide anything from your neighbours in Guyana. They know more about what goes on in your house than you know yourself.
One day there was this guy who was searching frantically in his pocket for something. His neighbour who just happened to be seated by her window looked out and asked him, “What happened? You lost something?”
“Yeah”, says the guy, “I lost my keys to the front door.”
“Not to worry,” replied the neighbour, “you left the back window open.”
So, there is no way that any kidnappers could have been holding hostages for ten years in any house in Guyana without someone noticing.
What is not certain though is what would have been the reaction by neighbours to someone screaming for help inside a house. There are many neighbours in Guyana who would hear screams coming from next door. They will listen to be able to determine whether someone is being administered a sound licking, but not many will go next door to investigate like that guy did in Ohio and which allowed for the rescue of those three girls.
A great many Guyanese neighbours would have simply listened but do nothing, assuming that it was domestic spat which they should have no part in.
There are two lessons therefore to be had from what has happened in Ohio. The first is if you hear screams next door, go and investigate and also call the police.
And the second lesson is that Guyanese need to start peeping more because you can never know what is taking place over the fence.

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