No queue, no test
Dear Sir,
Today (April 14, 2021), I visited the Covid testing centre in St George's at Penno's Wharf. The queue was about an hour long and without any shelter from the sun or rain. I should have brought an umbrella.
Fifteen minutes into our wait time, two gentlemen turned up in a large car with registration LIMO12. They looked at the long queue. They decided that queuing was not for them. Thus, they proceeded to amble down the outside of the line. Upon reaching a large gap, they cut in.
I assume they expected no one would make a fuss. They did not count on the Bermudian women in front of me who were most displeased. One of these women went to get the soldier from the regiment tasked with keeping order. I was quite impressed at the spirit of the women that went to complain. I imagined that the summoned authority figure would soon remedy the situation. I was completely mistaken.
The soldier talked to them; they presumably refused to move, so he called the police. The police arrived. They asked the men if they had pushed in. When the men said "no", the police left the scene stating, "what could they do". I should have pointed out to the constables the many witnesses who had seen them cut the queue. I said nothing, as I knew how that would have ended: "This doesn't concern you, sir" or "Stay out of this or I will send you to the back of the line."
Everyone that was at Penno's Wharf today had to wait an hour for their test. It is unfair that some should jump the line knowing that the police and regiment will take no action. What is the point in the presence of the regiment if this is to be the case? As I left the testing centre, the soldier had not yet admitted the two men, but they were next in line.
The solution, it seems to me, is easy: the soldier could have instructed the men to return to the back of the queue or he won't admit them to the testing centre. In the unlikely event that the situation had escalated, the police would have been able to act. I suspect, wanting to return to New York, they would have complied with the instruction.
Could The Royal Gazette put my "no queue, no test" proposal to the Premier at the next press conference?
JAMES ROBINSON
Paget
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