This morning the Presidential car was coming around the savannah, one security car in front, one behind and a motor cycle outrider on the side. Some distance behind was another motorcycle outrider. The vehicles and first outrider slowed down and turned into gateway - did you know that when the President gets home a bugle is sounded? I heard it this morning.
Anyway, the traffic that had been pulled aside to let them pass started to move forward and I suddenly heard this loud, strident voice yelling "Whey yuh tink you goin??" Apparently one of the cars on the far left had reached alongside the remaining outrider and she was not happy about it. The car stopped and she continued to scream at the driver in what I can only describe as a fishwife voice. The whole of St. Ann's could have heard this woman. People in the cars backed up to the Kapok Roundabout could have heard this woman. Dogs within a 10 mile radius could have heard this woman.! She had a voice that could easily have shattered glass. And the man driving the car was about 1 foot away from her. She ended her tirade with the dire "All yuh so go see someting" before driving off in a huff.
Okay, so maybe the unfortunate driver's brain did not click into gear to realize that she was part of the entourage and he should keep behind her. Maybe he thought that once the president was safely within his compound it would be okay for him to continue on his way. Maybe he was studying the crime rate in Trinidad and did not even notice her. Whatever the reason - was it okay for her to behave like if she was having a fight with somebody in a back-a-yard?
I found it especially distressing because this is the PRESIDENT'S guard. It is not to say that it is some ordinary traffic police - we are all accustomed to the abuse they mete out at the slightest provocation - but when you see a police-person in a white uniform, you kind of expect a measure of decorum, or at least basic good manners.
I wondered if these people are not trained - but then I realized that it is possible that the person doing the training accepts that talking like that to another person is quite okay. You can't teach what you don't know yourself. I have heard parents talking to small children and teachers talking to pupils in exactly the same way. Who is to guard the guards?
Anyway, the traffic that had been pulled aside to let them pass started to move forward and I suddenly heard this loud, strident voice yelling "Whey yuh tink you goin??" Apparently one of the cars on the far left had reached alongside the remaining outrider and she was not happy about it. The car stopped and she continued to scream at the driver in what I can only describe as a fishwife voice. The whole of St. Ann's could have heard this woman. People in the cars backed up to the Kapok Roundabout could have heard this woman. Dogs within a 10 mile radius could have heard this woman.! She had a voice that could easily have shattered glass. And the man driving the car was about 1 foot away from her. She ended her tirade with the dire "All yuh so go see someting" before driving off in a huff.
Okay, so maybe the unfortunate driver's brain did not click into gear to realize that she was part of the entourage and he should keep behind her. Maybe he thought that once the president was safely within his compound it would be okay for him to continue on his way. Maybe he was studying the crime rate in Trinidad and did not even notice her. Whatever the reason - was it okay for her to behave like if she was having a fight with somebody in a back-a-yard?
I found it especially distressing because this is the PRESIDENT'S guard. It is not to say that it is some ordinary traffic police - we are all accustomed to the abuse they mete out at the slightest provocation - but when you see a police-person in a white uniform, you kind of expect a measure of decorum, or at least basic good manners.
I wondered if these people are not trained - but then I realized that it is possible that the person doing the training accepts that talking like that to another person is quite okay. You can't teach what you don't know yourself. I have heard parents talking to small children and teachers talking to pupils in exactly the same way. Who is to guard the guards?
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