Shot In The Foot

THE EDITOR:
I’m happy that the Election bell has been rung, and that’s because, like many, I can hardly wait to see if my hopes and prayers for St Lucia are answered. Meanwhile, though, I can’t help but have concerns about Polling Day coinciding with the day of a CSEC exam. Didn’t the ringer of the bell think to check that out before he settled on a date? If he didn’t, that’s rank thoughtlessness. If he did, and still went ahead, then that’s gross insensitivity.

Now, one hears that the ringer of the bell has asked CXC to have the date of the exam pushed back. I can’t say whether that is a fact or not, but if it is, and the examining body has agreed, that would be a most injudicious action unless the date has been similarly changed for all jurisdictions involved in writing the affected paper/papers. Otherwise, surely CXC’s regulations would clearly be being contravened. And if there is a change, one would also have to wonder whether St Lucia would then be responsible for footing the bill for the obvious dislocation which would be caused throughout the region by such a change. It would be interesting to discover exactly what went down/is going down there. But like all else, that too will no doubt remain a deep dark secret. Go on, Mr Wayne, say it …

As to the other much discussed question of how the ringer of the bell could have been so thoughtless and/or insensitive towards the young persons and parents involved, I’m afraid I don’t, on the face of it, buy the thoughtlessness and insensitivity argument – not on this occasion. I believe that even the ringer of the bell would have avoided this situation if he could have. In which case, despite my well-known aversion to beliefs and actions regarding anything satanic, I, like the folks on the bus, can only think that there was no oversight whatsoever, but simply something that the ringer of the bell had to do. Yes, he ‘’had was to do it’’ according to the Jamaicans, or is it the Bajans? Uh-huh, he had was to do it! No questions asked. For, we are aware, aren’t we, that even if we do not ourselves subscribe to that sort of thing, there are those who live by such beliefs and dates and numbers and actions for all kinds of reasons, including, first and foremost, personal gain…

And so it was that the majority of us became aware of the day known to witches, warlocks, and other such believers as Antichrist Day – a significant one for believers and dealers in the occult, and for the rest of us a significant one for Election Day 6/6/16. Now, we await what shall come to pass for The Helen of the West, and we pray hard as we await her fate. Be conscious, Saint Lucians! Appeal to your better angels! Let’s build a new Saint Lucia together!

–Nahdjla Bailey