Use tough methods

June 11, 2007

Dear Sir,

On my daily “to do” list is a note to “self” to get online as soon as I can to read the local Bermuda newspaper. I used to live in Bermuda eons ago and still have friends and family living there, and sitting with a cup of coffee and catching up on things is the next best thing to being there. What has caught my attention lately is the number of traffic fatalities involving the young people. I read this morning the article on Minister Burch and he’s quite right on many of his points, in particular how these young people are raised and how much of a sense (or lack thereof) of responsibility is instilled in them.

I’m sure “the lack thereof” is responsible for most bad decisions made by these young people and their wanting some sort of thrill in their lives at that very moment. Having said that, there are also terrific parents out there who do their best to teach their children and raise them up in the proper manner and for some reason or the other, a bad choice is made on a particular day. We’ve all made a bad choice about one thing or another.

I would venture to guess these crashes were because of individual choices made, and therefore it’s called accountability. Unless Mom or Dad, or a Police officer was in that person’s pocket or riding on the handlebars of that bike to tell them, “no, don’t do that!,” the individuals who are going to will do so at the first opportunity. Blaming parent’s or lack of patrol officers is taking the responsibility off of the licensed individual. It is their responsibility at that particular moment in time, to make or not make a wise choice.

It seems some of these individuals do not look beyond that moment when they’re flying heck bent for election along a road and by the time they’re on a situation, within nanoseconds they’re already way too deep to change course to save themselves and prevent a crash. I often wonder what the last thing is that goes through their minds when they see what’s coming. Sad to think about that, isn’t it? As a parent I would wonder: “Did he/she think of the family? Did they cry out for me? Were they in much pain for very long? Did they pray?”

There does seem to be a lack of respect for the rules. Also it seems when they do get caught and go to court the punishment isn’t severe enough. Maybe the fine will work for some, fair enough... however, if that young person comes back a second and third time, there needs to be more done. In more cases than not I suspect a year off the road isn’t enough to stop some from disobeying the law and riding while suspended anyway. There are certain individuals who are never going to be reached and unfortunately may end up being one of these fatalities. There will be broken hearted families, hurting friends, devastated drivers who were part of, but not “the cause of” this crash. Many lives are left behind to pick up the pieces because someone thought they could go at top speed and pass this bus or this lorry. And it is a crash, not an accident.

Maybe the laws should be changed and an individual should be 18 before getting a licence. This punishes those youngsters who are very conscientious and work hard to be able to have their own bike, but life isn’t fair and sometimes rules have to be changed because of other’s behaviour. Maybe there needs to be more hard hitting teaching going on as well. Get the families of those prior fatalities involved. Share their personal experience of loss and devastation with them. Show pictures and films of real crashes, real people, real broken and smashed bodies and what those parts and pieces look like. In colour no less! Show the blood and guts and gore of it all. Maybe that will have some affect on them, even one life saved because of this introduction to reality would help.

Let them go to a crash site and see what the responding police officers first see and let them feel what it’s like to know that someone else’s child has just been killed and they are going to go home to their own children when their shift is over. They have to try to calm this person, (if they are responsive) and hold bloodied heads and watch oozing wounds and listen to the screams and terror this individual is experiencing, and at the same time try to keep things in order until the ambulance arrives. Let them watch as these same police officers go to the side of the road and vomit because even though they are police officers, they are also human and parent’s, or brothers or sisters and this could be one of their own.

Individuals who can no longer walk or run, talk or feed themselves or for that matter, take care of their own most personal needs, need to be a part of this education. An evening in the Emergency room to see people brought in by ambulance and hear them in pain both emotionally and physically, would make at least a few young riders think twice about that extra little two or three minute rush of excitement. Maybe, just maybe it might not be quite so worth it? Let them watch the Physicians and Nurses intubating an unconscious, bleeding from all places individual, or using a defibrillator on them, trying to shock their hearts back into beating.

Let them watch the crash victim being sewn up, chest tubes and arterial lines and IV’s being inserted. Let them see what all the blood and gore looks like when medical personnel are trying to save someone’s life. Show them what it looks like with half your face ripped apart, or your brains outside your skull instead of inside as they should be. Let them see intestines and bones poking out of places you didn’t even know you had. Let them hear the anguish of parent’s and loved ones of someone who decided to “take a shot” at going 90K or more! Let them see the faces of these people and the faces of those Medical personnel who tried to save their lives and failed because the injuries were too devastating.

A trip to the morgue before these bodies are prepared for presentation would surely be an effective tool in teaching some of these youngsters the reality of stupid actions, and that’s what they are, stupid! They make a stupid choice and the lives of many others are effected forever. Sometimes you die... sometimes you have to look in the mirror and live with it for the rest of your life. Think maybe I know what I’m talking about from personal experience? Yes. Tough love? You bet...but what you’re doing now isn’t working is it, so where do you go from here?

BEEN THERE

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Beware Independence

June 6, 2007

Dear Sir,

Dr. Brown has recently reminded us all of the sound reasons for not even contemplating Independence. Imagine for a few moments the prospect of a police investigation into your personal affairs being ordered directly by Our Leader, flanked on the one side by Colonel Burch and on the other by Rolfe Commissiong— several steps behind, Wayne the - Food -Taster- Caines and up front, to give his blessing, the Rev. Parking - Room- Only -Vernon Lambe. And then, for a little light relief, being able to watch only his side of the story on the one remaining, Government-owned TV Station? The Governor may be irritating to some Bermudians, but none the less, he is unlikely to actually harbour any personal grudges that need a little police (or military) reinforcement.

And anyway, governors come, and governors go. (Some ‘feeling the love’, some feeling intoxicated, some feeling a little stiff). When we do go to the polls in the impending election, we should all bear in mind that this election is NOT about party politics, but really only about one thing: Do you, or do you not wish Ewart Brown to micro- manage your life, your children’s lives, and every Bermudian’s ability to move freely on and off this 22 square mile patch of real estate, for a minimum of at least the next four years? If your answer is ‘Yes’— Then, let us put aside all our dermatological differences, and make this simpler:

How do you feel about paying $ (BDA) 5.00 instead of the current $1.00 for a tomato? (Don’t for a minute think we will have enough clean arable land to grow our own). Or consider $(BDA) 25.00 instead of the current $4.99 for a loaf of bread?

FROM THE FARM IN ST. DAVID’S

P.s. If any of you is ‘igrant’ enough to follow Our Leader into his very own dream of personal fulfilment, be prepared for St. David’s refusal to follow suit. As we remain the Royal St. David’s Island, you lot’s passports will become useless at The Bridge , which is also useless anyway, and will NOT be rebuilt ... And —by the way—. Obviously, we do keep St. George’s, and The Airport (whatever you care to name it).

Bermuda’s vicious cycle

Dear Sir or Madam,

The Progressive ‘LABOUR’ Party is by definition itself a centre-left party grounded by the ideals of democratic socialism. This term has not one definition, but broadly it implies that the means of production are owned by the entire population and that political power should be in the hands of the people, whether through representative or direct democracy. It is supposed to be ‘capitalism’ which achieves greater equality in society. It is ‘labour’ in that it is supposed to be the party of the working class and it is ‘socialist’ in that it is the workers that actively participate in the management of the economy. Indeed, upon its creation in 1963, the PLP intended to appeal to the working-class, and does until this day. Their first election platform called for not only an end to racial discrimination but also economic parity and welfare programs, including housing. Sound familiar?

Of course Bermudian politics cannot be encapsulated within that definition. Our economy is at the whim of what it is physically able to do, and survives well in the American driven capitalistic world, linked to the US economy for its survival. We have prospered in this environment, at least economically. But what has been the price socially? Look around Bermuda today and you see overwhelmingly affluent society. At least on the surface. The slightest scratch would reveal that this is not always so. The gap between rich and poor is incrementally widening every year, and this ‘labour’ party, who is supposed to work for the working class (remember us?), those who brought them into power is failing them. Some might say that this is merely an argument of rhetoric, but this is not the PLP that was envisaged by its founders.

The PLP instead has slowly changed into a power-hungry capitalistic machine, becoming evermore corrupt in its endeavours. In fact, they have become what the PLP always thought of the UBP. Mr. Premier believes that power to the UBP may result in a return to the ‘40 Thieves’, but the ‘40 Thieves’ are still around, and the recent alleged PLP corruption makes them hardly better. Arresting Mr. Larry Dennis hardly makes them any better. Don’t get me wrong, my argument is not to say that the UBP would do a better job. I do not share ideals with the UBP, as long as the UBP refuse to re-brand themselves. The PLP however have disappointed me, and have put shame to the name they carry behind them.

Where are their ‘labour’ ideals? Where do ‘the people’, our people, fit into their wavering political stance? Do they not forget that it is the ‘workers’ that voted for them? The people need houses, and needed them yesterday. The people need a better education system. The people need transparency and veritable discussion. The people need a fight against crime. The Government however has a different agenda. Oh they know that they will have to do something to appease the people, and perhaps these things take time. But their seeming lack of importance on their agenda point to the fact that they do not care. May I also point out that this is not all of the PLP. There are some (not all) desperate for power, and money, and there are some that believe in the ideals that the PLP were founded on. But their voice must be weak, and I know that they must overshadowed by others. Then of course, the party suffers from factionalism — as we know it does. Have the PLP forgotten who elected them and the principles that should guide them?

The stronger the economy, the more businesses set up here, the more foreign labour we will have and need, and the less space, resources and benefits for everyone else. It is a vicious cycle. I want Bermuda to prosper, and I understand what it must do. But there must be a balance. With increased business and the ‘almighty dollar’ comes increased responsibility. For every dollar we make, every corresponding dollar should be found to house our people and educate them appropriately. For without house there can be no family, for without family there cannot be a basis for society. And that basis is desperately needed to educate our children and to teach them of who they are and where they come from. Shape up PLP, and remember what your party was founded on.

NONE OF THE ABOVE

Sandys

Enjoy your brunch!

June 18, 2007

Dear Sir,

How many places in the island would you consider your favourite to go for brunch on Sundays? I have one in mind. I would always have considered the place my favourite and was really disappointed when my toddler (16 months old) decided to try the soup I was having. Oh, don’t get me wrong, the soup was good and I probably gave him six spoonfuls of it as he had already had his lunch before hand. Since it was my turn to treat the family I was prepared for the bill but what I was not prepared for was that I had to pay $20 for the six spoonfuls of soup had by my toddler.

I have been to many restaurants around the world and have not been charged child rate for a toddler who had 6 Spoonfuls of Soup. Again, don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind paying but they should have a sign saying, as soon as your baby can eat, they will be charged. I just found it ridiculous. I know of restaurants that charge child rate for age two years and above but this is the first I have encountered paying child rate for a 16-month-old baby. That was the most expensive “six spoonfuls of soup” I ever paid for!

I will still patronise the place but, I will make sure to make my toddler eat as much as he can so it is worth it or, maybe we should just bring his lunch with us. Now, if “Corkage” is charged for bringing your own bottle, what do you call bringing your own lunch to a restaurant?

HOLES IN MY POCKET

St. George’s

Just suppose

June 7, 2007

Dear Sir,

So let me get this straight. If I am running a housing business and we do renovations on someone’s house to the tune of $150,000 but then they don’t pay us back this money. Am I hearing there are no legal grounds for me to recover this money? At the same time this person sells this same house to this housing business at a ridiculously inflated price and profits another $150,000. Just suppose that this missing money belonged to you and me, the innocent taxpayer? And the person who has “made out” is the leader of my country. Now, how would that make you feel? The Premier should resign.

CLAIRE A. SMITH

Warwick<$>

Consulate needs a sidewalk

July 21, 2007

Dear Sir,

I am pleased that the US Department of State extended such courtesy to the Premier and Finance Minister during their trip to Washington. I can only hope that they will return the courtesy by requesting that the Dept of Works & Engineering accelerate plans to build a sidewalk linking the US Consulate to its parking facilities at the Aboretum. Currently dozens of Bermudian and American visitors each day must run the narrow gauntlet of heavy traffic on Middle Road. Just a short stretch of sidewalk would make all the difference; otherwise it is only a matter of time before someone is injured or killed.

YANKEE ONION

Warwick

Honour everyone

June 17, 2007

Dear Sir,

I read with interest, Mr. Darrell’s letter about the lack of white seniors at their tea. I don’t know the answer to his question but I can say that since 2005, and it may be longer but that is the earliest I have seen, in the booklets put out honouring specific seniors during seniors week, out of all the seniors honoured in each booklet, and at City Hall, only on average, two or three have been white, an extremely small percentage of the entire number each year. I don’t know who is responsible for choosing them, but I can’t believe there are so few white seniors worthy of the honour.

A SAD BERMUDIAN

Warwick