TO quote the renowned poet Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam aka Akon:
“Can’t wait to get out and move forward with my life (move on with my life)
Got a family that loves me and wants me to do right
But instead, I’m here locked up
They won’t let me out”
While Akon may be musing about his time incarcerated, nothing speaks more to my soul in terms of where we are as a nation.
More than 365 days of closed borders and slapped with a fresh 21-day lockdown.
Straight up though, we went looking for this lockdown with a flashlight.
From Monday to Friday the Ministry of Health reported 338 new cases of Covid-19… not good, not good at all.
We real mess up de scene.
I wonder, however, if the restrictions placed on restaurants, cinemas, places of worship, beaches and other enjoyable places are the answer to controlling the spread of Covid-19.
For example, research has shown that once proper protocol is followed transmission at outdoor spaces, such as the beach is extremely low. Likewise, once social distancing, mask and sanitisation protocol is followed in restaurants and cinemas the chances of transmission is also low.
Where is the proof that our rising cases are linked to these places?
That’s what has people angry. Where is the proof that a day at the beach or an afternoon watching a movie caused cases to spike?
It can be argued that it is not the place, but rather the people.
We messed up de scene.
We got slack folks, failed to follow the rules and now Peter has to pay for Paul.
It is a well known fact Trinbagonians have very little value for personal space and given the opportunity will ram up on one another even in the most spacious of areas. It is as if we can only survive if we can feel the hot breathe of a stranger down the back of our necks. This people is how we got here.
Delta Force advertisement
Look at what happened in MovieTowne, Port-of-Spain a couple of weeks ago. A gazillion people decided it was a good idea to stick up underneath one another. Many of them, probably inspired after watching Godzilla vs Kong, felt invincible and were not wearing masks properly, if at all. It was a recipe for disaster. One sneeze and s@*t was going to go down.
But is it the cinema’s fault? No it is not. They didn’t corral everyone together. They provided a service and took measures they needed to take to ensure their patrons safety. Their patrons chose to disregard this and their own personal safety and now as a result the cinema has to pay.
Beaches are fine, again low transmission, but as usual a gazillion people felt the need to stick up under one another and replicate the secondary school canteen rush at the bake and shark stands.
We know what we have to do to stay safe and we simply choose to ignore it.
Now, I am not saying some establishments are not at fault. Bars that quietly siphon their favourite group of snacknette rats into closed up backrooms and encourage the development of their patrons’ liver cirrhosis, ya’ll to blame too.
But again it all comes down to personal responsibility.
We complain about lockdowns and restrictions and businesses suffering, but no one is discussing the fact that maybe if we got our act together we would not be in this situation… again.
I walked into a pharmacy this week, of the ten people there; five were not wearing their masks properly. Masks were below their noses, one dude, he didn’t give a …, his was pulled down to his chin. I would like to point out some of these mask offenders were members of staff, apparently they believe once someone’s hands are coated in lemony scented hand sanitiser then… poof… no Covid.
We have gotten slack and messed up.
Now some people are just hardened. They don’t adhere to the rules. Ohhh we have a bunch of rebels on our hands. So this is where our law enforcement plays their part.
Again maybe there should be more police patrols, because while Covid may not scare some people, for sure a night in jail or a big fine will.
Our laws also need to be amended. This private property thing is ridiculous, health and safety regulations are for all. It is unfair to punish businesses, when people who host drunk fests in their “private homes” don’t even get a slap on the wrist.
It is unfair that many law and regulation abiding businesses have to suffer because of our irresponsibility.
And do you know who is paying the biggest price? Our children and teens, who have been out of school for over a year.
Keep up our slackness and we will see schools closed for a lot longer. We will see a whole generation lost because they do not have the proper access or support to continue their education.
So for the love of all that is wonderful and as miraculous as a hot doubles, can we give each other some space, wear our masks and stop being a pack of dicks.
Our Children are Paying the Biggest Price
TO quote the renowned poet Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam aka Akon:
“Can’t wait to get out and move forward with my life (move on with my life)
Got a family that loves me and wants me to do right
But instead, I’m here locked up
They won’t let me out”
While Akon may be musing about his time incarcerated, nothing speaks more to my soul in terms of where we are as a nation.
More than 365 days of closed borders and slapped with a fresh 21-day lockdown.
Straight up though, we went looking for this lockdown with a flashlight.
From Monday to Friday the Ministry of Health reported 338 new cases of Covid-19… not good, not good at all.
We real mess up de scene.
I wonder, however, if the restrictions placed on restaurants, cinemas, places of worship, beaches and other enjoyable places are the answer to controlling the spread of Covid-19.
For example, research has shown that once proper protocol is followed transmission at outdoor spaces, such as the beach is extremely low. Likewise, once social distancing, mask and sanitisation protocol is followed in restaurants and cinemas the chances of transmission is also low.
Where is the proof that our rising cases are linked to these places?
That’s what has people angry. Where is the proof that a day at the beach or an afternoon watching a movie caused cases to spike?
It can be argued that it is not the place, but rather the people.
We messed up de scene.
We got slack folks, failed to follow the rules and now Peter has to pay for Paul.
It is a well known fact Trinbagonians have very little value for personal space and given the opportunity will ram up on one another even in the most spacious of areas. It is as if we can only survive if we can feel the hot breathe of a stranger down the back of our necks. This people is how we got here.
Delta Force advertisement
Look at what happened in MovieTowne, Port-of-Spain a couple of weeks ago. A gazillion people decided it was a good idea to stick up underneath one another. Many of them, probably inspired after watching Godzilla vs Kong, felt invincible and were not wearing masks properly, if at all. It was a recipe for disaster. One sneeze and s@*t was going to go down.
But is it the cinema’s fault? No it is not. They didn’t corral everyone together. They provided a service and took measures they needed to take to ensure their patrons safety. Their patrons chose to disregard this and their own personal safety and now as a result the cinema has to pay.
Beaches are fine, again low transmission, but as usual a gazillion people felt the need to stick up under one another and replicate the secondary school canteen rush at the bake and shark stands.
We know what we have to do to stay safe and we simply choose to ignore it.
Now, I am not saying some establishments are not at fault. Bars that quietly siphon their favourite group of snacknette rats into closed up backrooms and encourage the development of their patrons’ liver cirrhosis, ya’ll to blame too.
But again it all comes down to personal responsibility.
We complain about lockdowns and restrictions and businesses suffering, but no one is discussing the fact that maybe if we got our act together we would not be in this situation… again.
I walked into a pharmacy this week, of the ten people there; five were not wearing their masks properly. Masks were below their noses, one dude, he didn’t give a …, his was pulled down to his chin. I would like to point out some of these mask offenders were members of staff, apparently they believe once someone’s hands are coated in lemony scented hand sanitiser then… poof… no Covid.
We have gotten slack and messed up.
Now some people are just hardened. They don’t adhere to the rules. Ohhh we have a bunch of rebels on our hands. So this is where our law enforcement plays their part.
Again maybe there should be more police patrols, because while Covid may not scare some people, for sure a night in jail or a big fine will.
Our laws also need to be amended. This private property thing is ridiculous, health and safety regulations are for all. It is unfair to punish businesses, when people who host drunk fests in their “private homes” don’t even get a slap on the wrist.
It is unfair that many law and regulation abiding businesses have to suffer because of our irresponsibility.
And do you know who is paying the biggest price? Our children and teens, who have been out of school for over a year.
Keep up our slackness and we will see schools closed for a lot longer. We will see a whole generation lost because they do not have the proper access or support to continue their education.
So for the love of all that is wonderful and as miraculous as a hot doubles, can we give each other some space, wear our masks and stop being a pack of dicks.
Thanks and much love.