Classic case of pessimist versus the optimist conundrum

Feb 20, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
Change can be magnificent or malevolent, however sometimes it matters not the subject of change but particularly how it is viewed – a classic case of pessimist versus the optimist conundrum.
Individuals who perceive the glass as half empty contrary to their counterparts seeing it as half full. Hence I provide a simple scenario to deduce how one’s current perspective can afflict their immediate future.
Have you ever heard the story of the ‘China Jar’? As an older Guyanese folk tale the story goes; once upon a time there was a poor middle aged China man.
He somehow managed to acquire a huge jar used to churn butter and thought to himself, “if I am able to fill this jar with churned butter and sell it, I will make a lot of money, then I can buy two jars, and from the earnings of two, I can purchase two more”.
He smiled and relished in delight as he plotted his path to affluence. He continued with his merry contemplation, “Then I will be a rich man and I will have a beautiful wife. We will have two children first a boy, then a girl.”
Suddenly his face then became rigid, his jovial expressions vanished. “But my daughter maybe foolish and steal my wealth to leave home with her lover”, and in that moment he took a stick set by his side and struck out with anger, breaking the jar and shattering all his plans and sealing his fate as a poor man forever.
The fiasco of the parking meter continues however, there have been a number of benefits to be acknowledged. My first and foremost is the ease of congestion not only of vehicular traffic but also of foot traffic eradicating ‘limers’, loiterers and opportunists or placing them in better view of the law at least.
Criminal elements usually take advantage of the chaos and bustling of the downtown Georgetown area, posing as shoppers, vendors or masking themselves in the background of the busy city streets.
However the parking meters have helped to restore some order ease congestion and aid the city and national police in alleviating crime.
I feel safer! And that is good; I need to feel safe, I want to feel safe, it is my right as a citizen of Guyana. Approximately two years ago, I was accosted by three men who relieved me of my cellphone and other valuables at the corners of Regent and King Streets.
They took advantage of the crowd and the vendors and I never saw them coming. A policeman that was a corner a way gave chase but lost them in the crowd. For a long time I was fearful to walk the streets.
Secondly if the parking meter contract is legal and binding, why would we want to opt out now? It is not logical; remuneration paid upon materials and services we have not yet utilized. Is it seriously a waste of my taxpaying dollars?
I would rather see these clauses adamantly amended and once there is adequate compromise and consensus with the Guyanese populace who are going to be paying for these services are satisfied, we forge ahead. Let’s not be the China man from the China Jar story.
Let’s be thinkers, be deliberate in your thoughts and actions to move us forward as a country in a positive direction. Do not let your paranoid perception or misconceptions guide you. Let your thoughts be clear, embrace reason, rally together when diplomacy has all but failed. But do not destroy the vision before you see what’s in store.
Chandra Ramnauth

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