In an earlier comment about song-writing I made the point that while talent has to be there, the more critical quality is observation because that is almost always the ingredient that sets a song apart; the writer has turned a light on something in the society, or in an individual, that would have otherwise escaped the rest of us in the populace. In fact, to look at the popular columnists or commentators in our local press – Freddie Kissoon, Ralph Ramkarran, Henry Jeffrey, Adam Harris, Christopher Ram, Ian McDonald, etc – is to see this taking place as each writer brings us to something, or an aspect of something, that is new or revealing or thought-provoking.
Furthermore, in the society at large, I have often said that we can be in advance of shifts in our society, wherever it may be, through this inclination to observation, leaving us aware of something before the most recent data or study or programme presents something to us as a condition we have reached. An example of this came to me recently through my humble cell phone. I’m not into the various smart phone apps, and the constant checking for messages or updates, including even during a play at the Theatre Guild (I saw that one once), but I do notice the occasional faint beep on my cell phone when one of the GTT messages comes in, and I have noticed a definite increase, in recent weeks, in the number of these with discounts, packages, applications, and even promotion of events being sent to me. From that observation I have deduced that GTT is likely improving customer outreach but, more likely, in our economic downturn, looking to increase revenue from its captive customer base. More specifically, this is confirming for me that the much discussed economic downturn is real – GTT is quite properly cranking up in response.