Following de rules ah de club

Ah swear dat Patrick Free-R-E does smoke sum-times. Imagine de guy implying in his weekly column dat Bassy got ah money tree bearing in he back-yard, humoring dat de ole red Isuzu jeep ah driving is only foh sham.{{more}}

De guy is mad-crazy, he even come-peer me wid de highly popular actor, Morgan Free-man who is ah million-heir, how ah wish. All because Part-trick saw ah humble side ah Free-man at wuk, he was sitting on de deck of his ship, in ah raga-muffin outfit, trying by himself to fix de engine of his million dollar yacht.

De truth is dat I am Rich, very Rich too. No way as materially Rich as Morgan Free-man or even Part-trick. Interestingly, Riches come in all form and fashion, at different stages too. In my case ah was born Rich, grew up in Richness. From de time ah learn to talk, my grand-parents who were humble folks but very Rich in Spiritual Blessing, introduced me, via prayers, to de Big Man who was sustaining dem wid His Richest Blessings. Man who Rich is de Big Man. He owns de earth and de fullness thereof, He owns all de mines, gold, silver, brass all de business, de Banks, yuh name it, He owns it! So luckily foh me, my folks got de Big Man to adopt me and enrolled me into His Club. It was back den He explained de Rules ah de Club foh me to follow: be Faithful, be Loyal, be Kind, be Humble, be Generous, be Honest, be Forgiving, in short and simple language, just try to be Good like Him. And den he explained how to reach Him thru prayers, on all matters, especially when-ever ah find me-self in or out ah need. Dat Fellar is something else, He has never failed to respond to my needs, only problem is, most ah de time when ah ask Him foh one ting, He would give me de opposite, if ah ask foh ham and eggs ah might end up getting corn porridge; but ah still give thanks because is hold-some food dat de body no doubt needs at de time. Ten years ago ah told Him how de playing field ain’t level, how ah does wuk long and hard hours, and deserve to drive ah good vehicle, especially when ah see some people who don’t even lift ah coke sorry, ah stroke and driving BMW. So ah asked Him foh new ride, something like ah BMW X6 or ah Ferari F355 Spider LHD. “Certainly”, he said, “ when ever yu ready, check Joyette’s Garage, ah nice vehicle is there waiting for yuh, one dat you need, can afford and can last you for a long time”. When ah went, Joyette handed me de keys foh ah ten year ole second hand (1988) Isuzu Trooper, and foh de last ten years ah humble me-self wid me Trooper, ah had de body repainted twice, and Bernard Poe-net keeps me running wid spare parts.

Ah got to add-myth dat just like how people does tek “meekness foh weakness”; well is de same way de fruits ah my Spiritual Blessings does fool every body, including Part-trick. He feels it got to be ah hefty bank book hidden some-way dat meks me smile all de time. Or to be content, remain humble and polite in spite of adversity suggest dat one is comfortably Rich. Truly ah feel inspired by Part-trick’s conclusions.

However be dat as it may. One ah de Rules ah de Club is dat one must, at every opportunity, witness to candidates foh possible recruitment to de Club, one must explain de simple Rules and share wid others one’s own experiences as ah Club Member. Ah note of caution, Riches are not always compatible and sometimes one might have to free-up some valuable material Riches to create space foh de fruits ah de Spiritual Riches to mek Roots.

One man was told by de Big Man’s son to go home, sell all dat he had , give de money to de poor and come back and follow Him. Wow! Dat’s ah tall order but dat it’s de Rules ah de Club. Ah suppose dat is why Part-trick prefers Jah, his Jah will never mek such hard bargain wid him, maybe dey’s no Rules in dah Club to Follow.

MRS PAY-LYN AINT READY YET

Ah don’t know ah hell-of-ah-lot way going on but ah following de US presidential elections (calm-pain) as best ah can. Somehow ah want Obama to win, historically it is significant foh Black People. But ah wondering if de Hope and Change dat Obama talking bout will mek ah difference in de US policies towards de Caribbean when he wins. Ah just finished listening to Sarah Pay-Lyn, Mc Cain’s vice-president meking her maid-in speech at de GOP Convention, somehow she talk tuff and delivered she-self well, but ah don’t think she will be able to hold her own in de debates, in other words, “she ain’t ready yet”! And de crowds at de two Conventions telling ah story by itself: “Mc Cain his thousands and Obama his ten thousands”! And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.