Dear Editor,
Some time ago, I borrowed an American expression to highlight some of the very correctable nonsense in our society. I crave your indulgence to do so again. Everyone is complaining about the butchery of the language on the airwaves and elsewhere (even cartoons have gotten into the act), but when the young lady reading the news on GTV says that Dr Surujbally demitted office on 31st November, it is time to say, ‘C’mon man!’
Guyana has gone metric (though the vendors in the markets are listing and selling items by the pound using metric calibrated scales) and even the cars being imported only have kph on the speedometers, so why are there still signs on some carriageways which state the speed limit in mph? C’mon man!
The markers and the barrier over the sink-hole when you are travelling from the Kitty Public Road onto Carifesta Avenue serve some purpose during the day. And there are even two warning signs on Kitty Public Road. But the dingy reddish and dirty white traffic cones are virtually useless at night. And that hole is deep! C’mon man!
Thomas Road has been resurfaced and is the newest race track. But the road is hazardous at night when everyone drives with their high beam to compensate for the lack of street lights along half the length of the road. C’mon man!
Will those responsible for repairing our roads desist from using water-soluble materials such that as soon as the rain falls, the potholes that were repaired reappear and in some instances larger than before? C’mon man!
Why is it that ‘air’ is hardly ever available at your favourite gas station, especially when you urgently need to get a tyre inflated? C’mon man!
Yours faithfully,
C E Housty
