Thoughts on a Tuesday

clker.com

Today is my day to read and write this Final Report and I am doing a little bit of reading, no writing and plenty thinking about things other than the Final Report.  I am worrying about a friend whose cell phones have been turned off for a couple of days, is he okay?  Also wondering why am I so tired, washed my bedsheets this morning and now thinking of you guys  so decided to chat.



As you may know I'm living in a new neighbourhood.  It's different from the one I called home for so many years.  The road was only recently repaired, there are empty lots with "bush", as we call anything overgrown and green in Trinidad and Tobago, and bamboo over ten feet tall.  I live on the side of the hill on one of the Terraces and I am invading the space of every insect that God ever decided to make.

The people on the Terrace seem to be hardworking, blue collar workers - daily paid workers, taxi drivers, cleaners and some like my landlady who runs her own catering business out of the Port of Spain docks.    There are also a few retirees out of which one old guy stands out because I've heard him whistling a merry tune and as I pass by seeing  him cleaning his porch and front yard and  there are also quite a few children, one who as far as I am concerned need psychological help since I've been told he kills all the dogs and cats in the neighbourhood  and is the chief manipulator of other children.  You can bet I keep my dear, dog as near to my space as I can and as far away from baby boy .  So far, I haven't heard any gunshots or felt threatened by my surroundings but it is a pretty grim area nevertheless.

I've found it difficult because it is a life style change and I am so accustomed to my last neighbourhood where within a four-block area  I knew everyone and everyone knew me, supermarkets, drugstores, the gym. banks, fast food restaurants, bakeries and even a savannah were nearby, so to move here where no one even gives the greeting of the day has been difficult.  I have concluded that I've made a poor decision since I am indeed very isolated.  With all that though I decided that this little land of mine is becoming way too savage for my liking and if the only thing I could do was greet those I see each day, I would practise the manners my Papa taught me, so who ever is on the block as I walk up and down that hill, I greet.  I've had some mixed reactions.   The older folks simply watch, most give me a grunt, others may give me a rapid acknowledgement and I truly feel as if I am bothering those and the children, well most of the times they do not seem to hear me.  There are days that it gets me down since I would like to receive a smile and a quick hello also.  Actually, I forgot,, I do indeed get a smile and a quick greeting from the garbage men on those mornings when we "bounce up".

Recently, I have been getting a response from the lady who seems to have Alzheimer's or something similar.  I don't always understand what she is trying to tell me and I often don't have much time to stand and try to figure it out but a big smile and a wave seems to satisfy her.  I've also received responses from the lady who seems to be a single mother, the taxi driver who apparently knows a friend of mine and has promised to look out for me and this one  "odd guy" who always gives me the oddest of looks and always looks rather tense, and seems angry with the world and his older relative, the lady with the Alzheimer's or something similar.

The first time he spoke to me was to the Friday before Independence Day (August 31st) holiday, when I merrily gave him my usual good morning.  He responded by saying "you must be a daily-paid worker because we got paid today and that is the only reason to be so happy."  LOL!  Then a couple of weeks ago he enquired "why are you always smiling and so happy?"   He caught me off-guard with that question and well I really did not have a reason for my smile, so that was my response.  Yesterday, as I trudged up the hill (the asthma is really giving me trouble so climbing the hill is a problem), I truly did not notice "odd guy"  until I heard him say "wait, I have an avocado from my tree for you."  I was quite taken aback and also rather pleased that he showed me this gesture of kindness.   He gave me 2 pretty nice avocados, the round type with the really short neck.  Heh, maybe the manners are working , since it is said that "manners maketh man" I may just be making a friend.

So how has your Tuesday been going?  Share at the end of the page.


Until,