It Was About Time

DON’T say that I don’t give kudos and praise when things are good and that I only focus on the negative because I am about to praise the words and hopefully soon-to-be actions of a member of the government.

Last week, Minister Lenard Montoute, who was then in the capacity as Acting Prime Minister, spoke out against the dastardly act of taking photographs of dying or deceased people and disseminating such photographs on social media.

“Perhaps the time has come where legislation will have to be put in place to force people to become a little more sensitive,” he said. “I’d hate to think that to appeal to someone’s humanity, you have to pass laws. But it appears that this is where we are headed right now because time and time again these things happen, and until and unless we are probably directly impacted by such circumstances, we will not appreciate what it is that we’re doing. But I’m saying that it is a practice that we should desist from and ensure that we show a little humanity to others.”

He also had some strong words for those police and medical professionals (and I use the word ‘professional’ loosely in this case) who partake in this act. He said: “Quite apart from being unprofessional, I think that it’s very inappropriate that you have people in those positions carrying out such acts. That has to be discouraged if it’s being done, and I would like to believe that if there is any legislation to control such activities, that they are severely harsh on especially those people who are in those positions such as emergency workers and police officers and so on, because I think it is totally unacceptable and totally inappropriate and we should do everything to discourage it.”

I must say, when I heard this man say those words, I could have jumped across the table to hug him because those words were music to my ears. At the time, all I kept repeating in my mind was, “Yes…Finally!!!”

When the news about what Montoute said got out, I heard a few mutterings saying that it was nonsense because there is no way he can police the Internet, which is very true, but I would rather someone take a crack at it than to allow this to continue and, in fact, get worse over time.

Surely, there is no way that anyone can keep a watchful eye on the hundred of thousands of social media accounts. But there are indeed ways of casting a net and catching quite a few culprits and maybe then the message will finally drill through some stubborn heads and people will think twice before being so insensitive and callous with their posts.

There is a saying that “Snitches get stitches”, but to be honest, this is the one time I promise it will be my absolute pleasure to screenshot and report culprits, be it family or friend — they gon’ learn today!

And I am dead serious, so if anyone reading this happens to be on any of my social media friends list and they disseminate such images and videos, don’t say I didn’t warn you. In fact, do yourselves a favour and block me from now on because if and when legislation is passed on this matter, I will become the biggest Nosey Nellie you can ever imagine and, yes, I will be scouring just for the sake of busting culprits.

One might think that I’m petty or simply dead wrong for thinking like this but I will ask you like I’ve asked everyone else to put yourself in the shoes of the family and loved ones of the victims and then come back and tell me how wrong I am.

As long as people continue to remain completely insensitive and purposely oblivious to the impact and effects of doing these things, then I will continue to not spare their feelings when they get the backlash (and hopefully, soon face the penalties) for their actions.

Like the Minister said, it is just a shame that to get people to see the error of their ways for something of that nature, it has to take harsh and severe penalties to give them the wake-up call that they need.
Boy, I tell ya, that’s slave mentality at its best!