Dear Jim: A Barbados learning moment.
Well, after several years Sally and I decided to go back to Barbados for a winter break.
The Shopping has become like something out of Rodeo Drive. A big fancy Designer Label shopping center has miraculously appeared next to several tin shacks and a goat.
You know I have little interest in any shopping venue and have even less on an Island holiday. I have everything I need until The End and with the odd thing I do buy I say "this will be the last one of these I'll ever have to buy".
Sally loves it though and operates on autopilot whenever a cash register appears.
I thought words like Precious, Adorable, Cute, Gorgeous and Wonderful applied to Grandchildren. Who knew?
Apparently this is the new vocabulary for the latest fashions from Italy. At any rate, thank goodness we brought big half empty suitcases.
We were persuaded to stay on the St Lawrence Gap side of the Island where Poor People usually holiday. It was actually a good choice and although the Beach was terrible, the waves too rough, as were many of the guests, we quite liked it and will be happy to recommend it to acquaintances.
We rented a car to go up to our usual hunting grounds on the West Coast for one day. I had forgotten driving in Barbados on little narrow roads and the thrill of seeing the big wide buses.
Now when I was drinking and driving in Barbados I used to close my eyes when a bus was coming at me from the opposite direction and hope that the blow would be a glancing one. Driving under the influence was not only allowed it was encouraged to give confidence to the tourists so they would go out for Dinner at night.
Now that I’m not drinking I can see the impending terror much clearer. In addition to the cars and trucks barrelling down on you the Pedestrians are 6 deep on both sides of the road. The guy in charge of building sidewalks hasn't been appointed yet. In the event someone made a mistake and built a little piece of sidewalk a car is typically sitting on it forcing the pedestrians even further in to the street.
Frankly I think the whole thing is a not so subtle means of population control. No lights on the road, a bunch of crosswalks and Natives wearing all dark clothes. Along comes some Goofball used to driving on the right side of a 4 lane highway at home. He is driving on the wrong side of the road under duress, staring in to oncoming headlights on a bright setting, windshield wipers flapping away and a passenger screaming for her Mommy. What could go wrong?
So on this rainy Wednesday night I was on my game.
I don’t think I killed anyone!
There was a lot of banging and strange noises along with the occasional scream. The two purses that were wrapped around my side mirrors were inexpensive and not worth trying to find the owners so I don’t know if there was any personal damage there. A wool tuque was wedged under the front bumper but that could have been from a previous renter.
At any rate I got the car back sort of in one piece and vowed that this was my last drive in Barbados. A couple of Ativan and some hot and cold compresses got my blood pressure under 160 by noon the next day.
Our hotel was great but the beach wasn’t very swimmer friendly. The surf was very high and the undertow was quite strong.
Sally went in to the water and then tried to come out. As I stood there watching I couldn't help worrying. She was going to lose those $500 sun glasses if she wasn’t careful!
Each time she tried to stand up and walk out a wave would pound in and knock her around. I haven’t seen somersaults like that since we were in Gym class together as teenagers. After about 4 tries she was starting to lose her strength and was only able to get to one knee before the next wave whacked her. Being out of breath, she wasn't able to communicate with me and it was too noisy anyway to try and carry on a conversation.
Now just as I’m thinking, this is going to be hard to explain to the Family, a rather large Woman/Man type Brit jumped in to the surf and grabbed her by both hands and pulled her out. I would have thanked her but she gave me a very unfriendly look and appeared quite threatening to me so I left the scene quickly.
If I had been thinking I could have taken a picture with my Iphone so I could show her how she looked after the final wave.
Sally was pretty good about it and even waited until dinner to ask me why I hadn’t jumped in to help her. I had all kinds of excuses about being a delicate guy and the coral and sand would have played havoc with my bare feet and I didn't want to hurt my arm in case I decided to go golfing ever again.
I think its possible I may have lost a few points here but the cuts and scrapes should heal without scars and I’m sure all will be forgotten in a week or two.
So here is my safety tip if you go to Barbados. If your partner wants to go swimming in rough seas with a strong undertow it is probably a good time to go to your room and change your bathing suit and do a few emails. This will ensure that you won’t be critiqued by your partner or a bunch of do-gooders who will feel obliged to jump in and help.
It is truly amazing how many life lessons like this I have been able to pass on to you over the years. I hope you appreciate and learn from them!
Regards,
Bill Meder
Bill Meder
