‘Man did have more cars, girls’, but…
Dear Editor,
Amidst the clamour for higher public sector wages, calls for a “growth minister”, and criticism of the relevance of Jamaica passing International Monetary Fund (IMF) tests by the Opposition, I recalled P J Patterson boasting, while he was prime minister, that under his leadership men had the most cars and the most girls.
It seemed true, and delightfully so, as there wasn’t any backlash which resulted from this political rhetoric. I must admit, I, too, had a “fat ride”, a girl to go with it, and a decent salary as a public sector intern.
Back then, the north coast roadway was riddled with potholes that you couldn’t miss; the tyre repair man saw me quite regularly. I resentfully remembered Patterson every time I fell into a pothole, but hey, at least I could’ve afforded the maintenance. Many, including myself, had failed to recognise a fundamental rule of accounts; money present “here” means money absent “there”, and vice versa. The money which would have been raised by the attempted implementation of a gas tax, which was rejected with the 1998 riots, would have probably helped to fix those roads; so could the salaries of interns.
On the way to 2015, the highway became sweet to drive on, if you can “afford” to do so. The gas tax was sneaked in by the ruling Jamaica Labour Party Government in their short term in office. I didn’t stay in the public sector — and, by the way, they eventually stopped paying such interns. I could have probably had a few more girlfriends simultaneously, but I married “that” girl; however, she migrated to greener pastures.
Although I would love to blame the IMF, Portia, Peter, Omar, or even Audley, and the “global financial meltdown”, I rightfully cannot. Although we would like for things to be like they were back then, they cannot — at least not without us giving up certain things, those “good looking” things, and those things that we cannot truly claim ,whether legally, morally or reasonably.
Andre O Sheppy
Norwood, St James
astrangely@outlook.com