Dear Editor,
You drive around the island these days and there are certain ironies that just make you smile. In the face of catastrophe and natural disaster, there are certain simple truths that are so self-evident that words simply cannot do them justice and only their very images tell the whole story.
How do we know things are back to normal? Easy … just look around.
The announcement that the cruise ships are coming back is greeted by the usual celebratory dump fire burning now unabated for five days killing everyone downwind with choking toxic smoke.
The new, God knows how much it really cost, national flagpole now flies a rapidly shredding and falling to pieces national flag. A flag that probably cost $400 in Miami but shows up here with a price tag of, maybe, five grand. Three weeks and its in shreds.
All those VERY expensive beautification palm trees, now stumps by the side of the road.
And whatever happened to that very expensive helicopter that got leased by Government for who knows what reason?
And last but far from least, the new Government building that, last I looked, burns every light in the building all night yet no one ever answers a phone there and you need the national guard to actually get in the door.’
And about that “lack of a quorum” in parliament the other day … Maybe we should have timeclocks for our politicians to punch and hold them to a “no work, no pay” standard.
I love the statue at the new flagpole. A remarkably accurate and fitting tribute to the way things work around here in government … a man sitting in a chair, hands in his lap, staring into space and doing nothing at all.
Welcome to SXM. Check your intellect at the door and hang on to your wallet at all costs.
Steven Johnson
