Today is my birthday; I wish my parents were alive

Dec 30, 2020 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Kaieteur News – This column here is a piece of memoir. It is my birthday today. As I reflect on the years that have gone by, I have no regrets about my social evolution. I have no regrets that I went up to the doctorate level in philosophy and not forensic science or chemistry or medicine.
Had I chosen one of those three pathways, I know I would not have driven a car that broke down after 21 years of service. I know I would have had substantial sums in my bank account. I don’t have any reflections of remorse that I did not choose a more lucrative profession.
I chose to do a PhD in philosophy because I was engrossed in the subjects of history and philosophy. Money was never, even for a fleeting moment a consideration in my choice of a career. Money never ever was a factor in how I lived my life. Dr. Mellissa Ifill, Deputy Vice Chancellor of UG, wrote last week that my writings on the election impasse were done because I was angling for earnings.
Here is a piece of pyrotechnical irony for readers. Believe it or leave it. I earned less money at the Kaieteur News for 2020 which ends tomorrow than in previous years. Surely, the earnings didn’t come as Dr. Ifill thought. My daily columns for five months on the election rigging brought me not one cent.
In fact, Mr. Lall, the owner of this newspapers and I were talking after the declaration on July 31 and he expressed some appreciation for my role. He suggested I come to see him because he had a little “frec” for me. That “frec” was $300,000 which Mr. Lall said he has somewhere on his desk. I didn’t think as a media operative under Mr. Lall’s jurisdiction, it would have been appropriate to take the money.
I have not gone to Mr. Lall since that conversation to collect the $300,000. I do appreciate Mr. Lall’s encouraging gesture as I did in the past when he suggested that he buy a new car for me. I declined. Mr. Lall indicated that whenever I am ready he will buy a smart phone for me. But I told him I am happy with my “mango-pelter.” So my dear readers; in my life on earth, money was never a preoccupation. So on this my birthday, I have no regrets on how my life turned out.
My regrets are about my father. I wished he and my mother was alive to see me as I grow into old age and nurtured a daughter who I think is a morally decent human. My dad was a good man but he threw his life away. He confronted people over unjustified actions but he did not know about context and he did not use context. Like his seven children, including me, he never went beyond primary school.
My dad’s undoing was his uncontrollable imbibing. If you confront people and defeat them, make sure you do not slip up because they will come after you when you falter. This is what happened to my dad countless times. He didn’t have the courage when he was sober to tell his employers about their faults. He did it when he was drunk. He didn’t have a leg to stand on because he was not unionized; there was no union that covered cricket ground staff.
I followed in his footstep but I cultivated two fortresses – a top class university education and union membership. At UG, I confronted evil people millions of times but I did my work and the union was there for me. I never entered an argument when I was drunk like my father so in any hearing, I could never be in a weakened position.
I can’t recall a time in my 42 years of marriage that I didn’t spend my birthday with my wife. I will do so today and tonight. We don’t give presents anymore. We donate to animal shelter entities. She did ask me to make a special wish and I did. I told her I want a ham for my birthday. We do not cook pork. She does not eat it. I eat anything.
So yesterday, I went looking for ham. Wesley Kirton saw me going through the freezer at Massy Supermarket and yelled out, “I hope yuh buying local ham.” I won’t buy any ham that isn’t local. Guyana School of Agriculture told me theirs was finished. I called Aubrey Norton (yes Aubrey makes ham) but he said his was finished too. I honestly didn’t like another local variety. So today, I don’t have ham for my birthday.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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