Ah does always remember de accident in T&T dat start mih tinking about life.

Now dat accident happen ah long time ago, when ah was smaller. It did involve two fire engines goin’ tuh de same fire. Ah tryin’ tuh remember de details buh dey eh important tuh de topic ah dis week. So widout fear, ah goin’ an’ say what ah remember an’ den move orn tuh dis week rant. Is done Saturday, so ah have tuh tork quick.

As ah was sayin’, it happen ah long time ago when ah was growin’ up. One ah de fire trucks was comin’ from headquarters on Wrightson Road, an’ de next one from Belmont. Dey eh meet at de fire nah, dey meet in ah intersection. Mih mind tellin’ me dis happen during de time when dem firemen used tuh ride outside ah fire trucks an’ hold orn. So anyway de two trucks bounce into one anudder. Ah remember de news on TV torkin’ about how dis one fireman did geh pin an’ was bawlin’ fuh dem tuh hurry up an’ free him. Dey eh hurry farse enough, an’ he dead.

Dat is when ah start wonderin’ eef life cheap in T&T. Even now, whenever anyting happen dat I eh tink should, ah does wonder de same ting. It happen over an’ over an’ I eh wonderin’ no more as ah have mih answer.

When ah say ‘cheap’, I torkin’ about how much you an’ me, go do tuh save ah life and how much de govahment go do tuh make sure it eh come dong tuh dat.

Me eh know how true it is buh dey did say dat Manning say….…. okay, stop right dey. When yuh start gettin’ dat deep into all de, ‘who say‘, is dangerous grong yuh orn. Ah have ah name ah just make up fuh dat, Liars Grong. So now yuh know where yuh standin’, let mih go orn. Manning supposedly say in New York one time dat anybody who geh kill while de govahment wagin’ war against crime, go be ‘collateral damage’. Does de present govahment feel de same way? Look at tings an’ judge fuh yuhself.

All I know is dat once I get dey question in mih head ah seein’, readin’ an’ hearin’ enough tings dat makin’ up mih mind fuh mih. Remember, dat question not political eh so is not about de PNM, PP, NAR, DLP or any udder combination ah letters. It deeper dan dat an’ wider dan politics.

It had ah next accident, more recent, wid ah woman in a taxi. She too geh pin an’ was bawlin’ fuh dem tuh free she. Dey was waitin’ fuh de, ‘jaws ah life’, tuh reach. I eh know when or eef it reach buh like de fireman she too dead on de scene.

All ah we does read about woman gorn een de hospital tuh have dey baby an’ next ting is dead she dead. Or de baby born healthy an’ den dead. Just de udder day, ah chile geh sting by ah scorpion an’ dead. It lookin’ like when anyting happen tuh yuh, doh go in de hospital as in dey yuh life does geh valued de cheapest.

Look at de teenager in Toco dat de news just do de story orn. She name Althea Pascall-Nicholas. Accordin’ tuh de same papers she 17.  She walk away from ah car accident lookin’ whole. Soon after, bramps, she cyar see nuttin, is blind she gorn blind. She mudder take she tuh de hospital. Yuh know de machine dat supposed tuh check she eye eh wukkin’ fuh two years? At least dat is what de papers say.

Now tell mih someting. Eef dey did buy de machine, or even eef it was ah gift from ah next country where life eh so cheap, why it not wukkin’ fuh two years? Why it eh fix? Dey tink nobody would notice? Is not like when yuh break yuh mudder good China an’ yuh hidin’ it tellin’ yuhself as soon as she gorn yuh go mix flour an’ water an’ stick it back tuhgedder an’ put it back in de cupboard an’ she eh go know cause none ah de good China does geh used. De machine eh wukkin’ fuh TWO FRIGGIN YEARS! Somebody must notice dat, not so?

Buh is not just de authorities.

Car crash in Tobago. Five dead. Ah watch some high-ranking police officer do de usual – plead wid people tuh slow dong. How much time ah see dat? Time fuh ah next strategy.

While mih wholehearted sympathies tuh de family ah Sgt. Manwaring, ah would be dishonest eef I eh at least mention he death in dis. Now me eh sayin’ wearin’ ah bullet resistant vest go always save ah police officer, buh eef yuh goin’ out dey against people who done eh put no value on yuh life, wear it nah. How long ago before him dat ah next police officer did geh kill? Someting tuh do wid some kind ah car bomb mih mind tellin’ mih? In he case he didn’t believe in carryin’ gun an’ he superiors was okay wid dat. In dis day an’ age in Triniland? Yuh is ah police, gun an’ vest. Dem is yuh two biggest friend against dem criminals.

All dis is different from dem killers wid gun eh. By nature, dem does put little value in yuh life. Dey does hope you put more on it so yuh go want tuh live an’ therefore go always fraid dem. So far it wukkin’. When man gorn tuh kill is one set ah bullet he does pump in he victim. Eef dat not ah sign ah how cheap life is den meh eh know how much ah cheap life worth.

But still, what it mean when people life cheap?

Well, de first responsibility of ah govahment is tuh keep its citizens safe So if Manning did say what dey say he say den right dey yuh know de govahment eh feel obligated tuh live up tuh its number one responsibility. Dat is ah very bad ting when de govahment does play such ah big role in people life.

Eef women goin’ tuh de hospital expectin’ tuh come out mudders an’ dey body come out feet first, den dat health care system eh truly care about de health ah de people it servin’. Eef yuh want yuh could tell me dat it eh have no workers steupsin’ an’ sayin’ under dey bret, ‘eef yuh dead yuh dead oui. I done wuk an’ goin’ home just now’. Yuh could tell mih dat, buh me eh go believe dat shit. I believe it gettin’ said, whispered an’ acted on all over dey place.

I eh care how much excuse it have as tuh why dat machine eh fix so people eye could geh check. De fact remain is people life an’ future dey eh care about. Life cheap!

When life cheap, livin’ does become hard. Yuh does get forgotten. So what eef de standpipe by you does only have water twice ah week, four o’clock in de mornin’? Yuh lucky yuh eh like dem udder people where de onlyest ting dat does come out dey standpipe is dat gurglin’ sound cause water lock-orf.

Now what I tink ah de Police Welfare an’ Social Service eh relevant here buh what Sgt. Ramesar just say is important. He was referrin’ tuh de issue wid Sgt. Manwaring. He say de TTPS need ah cultural change. He right. Buh not just fuh de TTPS nah, is everybody.

Eef de police keep beggin’ people not tuh speed an’ people eh listenin’, den start treatin’ dem like chirren, only bigger. Put rules in place dat say eef yuh eh care how cheap yuh own life is dat is yuh business. We care about everybody else dat you might take wid you when yuh end yours dotishly. We cyatch yuh doin’ tings we eh like, we go punish yuh baxide one time. Ah mean is donkey years now de police pleadin’ an’ nobody eh takin’ dem orn.

‘Rum, It’s Macho’. Wasn’t dat ah slogan one time?

Me eh care what else yuh want tuh have go orn buh when life get cheap, dat is it. Everyting yuh do does reflect dat cheapness. Show me ah country in dis world where life cheap buh de place truly rich? No country could progress if human life like dorg poop. Ah tinking about de kind ah crap I used tuh cuss no arse when I eh see it an’ ah mash it. Ah had tuh cuss cause ah did know what mashin’ it did mean. It does get between yuh toes an’ eef it eh have no grass arong, it does start dryin’. Yuh does have tuh choose which wuss: how it does feel or dat canal water yuh lookin’ at, cause yuh eh know where dat water comin’ from. I used tuh pick de canal water an’ stick mih toes in it quick quick so could get dem tuh move widout stickin’. Den where ever ah was going, ah change mih mind an’ ah gorn back home instead.  Ah had tuh wash mih toes good before dat unknown canal water make dem fall orf.

Eef all dat grossin’ yuh out den good, yuh beginnin’ tuh understand what ah sayin’ about nuttin cyar wuk good or for long when life cheap. Tings does stick, dey does get hard, nuttin does go forward no matter how bard yuh want dem tuh progress. People does dead.