Of things past and of things to come

Dec 29, 2013 Features / Columnists, My Column

Christmas Day dawned and I was at peace. I had lived to see another Christmas Day. And like the kid who has been dreaming about a vacation when the time comes, that kid is at a loss to do all the things that he thought he would do. And so it was with me. I didn’t know what to eat, what to drink and what to really do.
I did the next best thing; take a bath, eat something that I had made for the day and head back to bed. But I was restless, so I placed overseas calls to my mother, sisters and two nieces. Of course the conversation reverted to things past, when we had no choice when it came to food or even gifts.
Then a horrible fact gripped me. This Christmas in Guyana saw an unprecedented level of violence. Men slit women’s throats, men killed men in the hinterland and other levels of violence. I have already attempted to guess that the violence may have to do with frustration.
It did not escape my notice that murders increased in the interior in direct proportion to the volume of gold extracted. I had heard just a few days earlier that the Guyana Sugar Corporation was the nation’s largest employer. At the individual level this might have been true, but the largest employer is the gold industry.
I took notice; I got the news that one of my friends got ambushed and killed by a young man for a few pennyweights of gold. That was when I thought of the families that would have no Christmas. I saw the tears and once more I had cause to wonder at people’s propensity for cruelty. All in all the season was mixed. But some things remained unchanged.
I found that people still had an interest in their community. Even on Christmas Day people called to talk about the state of their roads and asked me to send a camera. There were other things that made me smile. An overseas-based Guyanese who had come home for the holidays and who had grown up in my neighbourhood was amazed at how clean the place was.
There is something about communities in which people rely on each other. Where I live people keep an eye out for each other; we do not dump garbage in the streets and we keep our parapets spotless, with the weeder reporting as regular as clockwork.
But what about the office? Generally, people who work together always look forward to the major assembly at Christmas. As a schoolboy, we all looked forward to what was known as the House party at school. It was held at Christmas and we were asked to wear our ceremonial school uniform.
Later, in the world of work there were the Christmas parties. There was a time when the staff looked forward to these parties. In fact, they planned it. Today, it looks as if the days of the parties are coming to an end. It is as if the staff members are not too keen to associate with each other.
This is what influenced Kaieteur News not to hold a Christmas party this year. The management found that in recent times, people from outside made the most of the Christmas parties. Staff members would show up for a brief moment then move on to their own entertainment.
I noticed that the days have gone when the various Government Ministries held their own Christmas parties. I still remember when President Bharrat Jagdeo ordered that all the Ministries combine to hold one staff party. Perhaps that was the beginning of the end of these parties, although some Ministries had their individual parties this year.
But all that is water under the bridge. It is time to look forward to the New Year. And with the New Year comes resolutions. I used to make resolutions, but hardly kept any. Suddenly some of the resolutions fell into place. The cigarettes are gone, alcohol consumption has been slashed and the gym is my place of comfort.
The coming year is offering me a chance to be an even better person. As a reporter I pledge to focus more on the people who need a voice for their concerns. In the past I worried at the reaction of the people who are placed under the spotlight. This time around the poor people would take the spotlight, but I am also going to ask that they stand up for their rights. They cannot expect others to do everything for them.
Another resolution is to talk to those influential people who can make things happen. Some of them have been cussing me, but at my age the cussing means nothing, especially since I do not have to walk to them with cap in hand.

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