Lingering Doubts - Still more

Clearly I still have an ax to grind as there are a few items I still haven't covered but once this is through, I promise, there will be no more hating on T&T, just positive vibes from here on out.


What is with all this peeing? 

Picture it, fresh off the plane, terminal walls all around me painted in pastels seemingly bland and uninviting. The a/c as though attempting to compete with the cold climate I'd just left behind, gives the airport a very cold yet welcoming feel. Then the doors open, the heat hits you, a lone mosquito finds its mark and then like a bat to the face....WHAM......it hits you:

"What the fuck is that smell?!"

I'd almost completely forgotten what piss smelled like. Thank you Trinidad and Tobago for that very vivid reminder. At first, I was confused, I couldn't figure it out, what could possibly be the source of this uniquely foul odour? I hadn't been home in something like 8 years and thus unfamiliar with what smelled unholy, like a mix of boiled pig tail,stale buljol and old goat roti.

It is very evident to me that we as a people, still have a very loose understanding of hygiene in public. Namely, it is still socially acceptable to relieve oneself when the feeling hits, whenever and wherever one so happens to be at that point in time. I am complaining but I'm clearly in no position to judge. I vividly recall using the "piss wall" back when Watercolours was in its heydey in the paddock, Queens Park Savannah. Sure there were port-a-potties but why waste time? I swear there had to be like 20 fellas at a time lined up peeing on the wall.

I'm a reformed pisser.

I am not the same person I was 15 years ago, I no longer relieve myself in public spaces (though I do indulge in some R Kelly-ing from time to time). I would like to enjoy my country without having to smell this funk. How can this even be civilized?

Though I suppose I could understand when the options include either pee on yourself or possible gang rape in a public toilet. Think seriously, can any of you even tell me where to find a public toilet in T&T? The ones I can think of are on beaches and those are not free. I think there is one on Independence Square and I believe one or two in the Savannah.......and guess what? They smell like pee too.

I think I'll go pee on the wall by Five Points Marta Station next week just to see what happens.

Anyways, I still have one or two more gripes that I won't articulate today. Look out for one or two more of these gripe fests before the month is up. Peace.


D. T. J