A plea…..
I suppose I must admit that I have been fortunate thus far in life……I cannot say that I know what true hunger or starvation feels like. As a child growing up into a young adult, I was supported by my parents. I left high school and went into university and as a result of a number of years of study, I can manage to make a living to support myself. No, I’m not showing off, jus a chat facts. Shit could have befallen me like anyone else, and I could be walking the streets of Kingston in a dutty tear up piece o shorts with my family jewels dangling for all to see waiting at traffic lights to beg a money or wipe a man windscreen. Such is the nature of life.
What the hell is this post about? One of my colleagues at work said she went to Hellshire recently to have fried fish and festival. Always worth the effort. However, as I have said here before, as much as I think that the fish is irie nuh rass, the begging and hassling that one has to put up with when out there, is a definite deterrent for me…..I don’t know ’bout anybody else, but the hassling detracts from the potential enjoyment that one gets from going out there to chill.
My friend said that she arrived there on the Sunday morn at about ten oclock with her husband and a friend who was visiting from Trinidad. She said that her hubby who loves his food did well raw! (was very hungry) Now, she says that they have a lady that they usually buy their fish from, and they were mekking a beeline for her stall. However, as they alighted from their car, another fish vendor was touting them to buy fish from him. “Boss….. me have snapper, parrot, lobster……me cook it up fe you any way yuh want. Fry, steam, ’scoveitch, roast.” Of course, he was saying this while tekking a draw off his ever present bighead spliff! My friend’s hubby replies, “No rude bwoy, we have a lady who we always buy from still. Is alright. If anything, anodda time. Seen?”
The vendor pleads his case, “Dads, me will gie a good price yuh nuh….nutten naw gwaan fe me still. Look how me dress shabby. De pickney dem haffi go school and no dollas naw run!” Again my friend’s husband says, “You nuh hear me man, me seh we cool. A next time man,” getting a bit annoyed at his persistence. The vendor then gets down on his knees and blurts out a plea….”In de name of Jesus, buy some fish from me nuh!” 
With that, I think the gravity of his situation hit rock bottom and they came to a compromise. Apparently they were to take some fish back home for a relative, so they decided that they would buy those from him.
As serious as the situation with the fish vendor was, when my friend was telling me the story, we all had a good laugh at it. It does go to show that we all have different issues in our lives that we have to sort out. I might complain about the amount I earn and say that most of it goes into payment of bills. Others may say that if they were to earn what I pay in taxes they would be happy. Someone else might simply want to find a job in order to be able to buy food. It is all relative….yuh nuh seeit? Thank God for my job, for food and for life….things could be a lot worse. Have a cool day! 
March 30th, 2004 at 9:47 am The fall-down-on-knees thing got their attention, huh? I wonder if that approach would work on my boss?
Anyway, good post!
March 30th, 2004 at 12:18 pm …oddly, though, the invocation of a “certain fisher or men” would have sent me t’other way :^(…
March 30th, 2004 at 12:33 pm Yeh, D, do you remember the man who used to beg at Manor Park, with the crooked, lame leg…Remember how it turned out that although he would cuss the rass out of you for not giving him any money for cigarettes or whatever, that actually he had loads of money. We have one such individual here in Ontario - Toronto really, she has been known to beat up people who let the “cat out of the bag” when she is AT WORK begging money
March 30th, 2004 at 5:57 pm Is wah you a beg you boss fah my yute….a raise??