Dear Editor,
From my early youth, I was taught that rules were never made to be static, but could be changed or modified to suit prevailing conditions. Also, they should be made with the best interests of people in mind. I believe that whenever we are going to institute rules and regulations, such rules and regulations must be made to suit the prevailing conditions under which people live so that no one is inconvenienced.
On Tuesday, December 20, 2011, I had to go to the Deeds Registry to have two powers of attorney updated. As I entered the office, the female constable on duty told me that I should take off my cap. Since the office was air-conditioned and cold inside, I tried to reason with the guard that having come from the extreme heat outside (it was approaching noon when the heat was at its greatest) taking off my cap and exposing my head to the extreme cold in the air-conditioned office, would cause me to run the risk of contracting a severe head cold. I asked to be allowed to keep my cap on. The guard insisted that I must take it off.
So I said, “Madam, you are not concerned about my health?” She said that she was carrying out the instructions of management, and they had made the rule and I wanted to be excused, then I should speak to them. I told her that if I were approached by management then I would speak with them, and I did not take off my cap.
When I went into the cubicle to be attended to, the clerk also insisted that I must take off my cap. But I remonstrated with her just as I had with the constable. Eventually both of them smilingly allowed me to keep my cap on, and I was attended to. But the clerk gave me to know that the next time I went to the office, I would have to take off my cap.
Editor, I am a senior citizen in my seventies and bald pated, and I do not intend to and will never take off my cap upon entering any air-conditioned building after walking through the intense tropical heat we are experiencing in this country. I will not so endanger my health. As a matter of fact, in my opinion, that rule is suited to temperate countries like the USA, Canada, England, etc, where the temperature out in the streets is very similar to that in the offices. Such a rule is not suited to a tropical country like Guyana.
Some time ago, I had a similar problem when I went to GPL in Main Street to query my electricity bill. The clerk insisted that I must take off my cap as an act of courtesy to her and I refused because the office was air-conditioned. The clerk refused to attend to me and sent me to the supervisor who was very rude and hoggish but eventually attended to me. I was prepared to go upstairs and lodge a complaint to the management had I not been attended to.
Coming back to the Deeds Registry I was told to go back after three days to uplift the updated powers of attorney. The three days have already expired and I have not yet gone back to uplift the documents, although I will have to do so. And I would not be prepared to take off my cap as long as the weather conditions are not favourable for me to do so. But I hope I would be allowed to uplift my documents unhindered.
I wish that the authorities would do something about that rule. I have been in many air-conditioned offices and asked to be excused for keeping my cap on, and I was most politely excused. I do not see any reason why I cannot be excused in the Deeds Registry. After all, I have a valid reason for wanting to keep my cap on.
Yours faithfully,
Samuel Horatio Johnson
