The Tribune

By DIANE PHILLIPS

ELECTIONS are a lot like Christmas. You know they’re coming, but you wait until the last minute to get everything done that you had all year to do. It’s not just politics. We all do it, that waiting thing -- good intentions bumping into resounding procrastination. 

Maybe it’s a budget constraint.

Maybe it’s just that we get busy and other things get in the way.

But whatever the cause, there’s no question – it’s a last-minute scramble and then we move like lightning. Speed like we never knew we had. We never knew we could get so much done so fast. We visit folks. We fix up stuff. We find the funds to shop or provide whatever we need for the big day and we do with a ferocity and fierceness that defies reason. I’ve watched my own husband shop for the entire family in an hour and come out a winner. He makes the impossible look possible. I shake my head in wonder every time, but that doesn’t stop it from happening again and again. It’s a pattern that repeats with amazing familiarity – and incredible success. 

Like the holidays, there’s an excitement in the air during election season. And the signs are everywhere.

Holiday signs may be a bit more subtle, but there’s still a lot of red.

I’ll admit -- election signs are considerably more colourful than holiday signs. There’s red and blue and gold (and not sure what those other colours are, but there are a lot of them.) There’s also something called “Bluetown,” but I haven’t quite got that one figured out yet.

Did I say the signs are everywhere? That’s for sure: on the highway, wishing you a blue and gold or bright red happy election season, sharing information about what this party or that has to offer or if they did not live up to the promise they offered last season.

And another similarity -- everybody gets presents. Some of them are small, stocking stuffers over the holidays, t-shirt stuffers at the rallies.

Or so I’m told.

Then the real presents, those you have been waiting for all year. The new i-phone or giant screen TV in time for Superbowl, or something personal like jewellery, perfume, a designer bag.  Election season presents may lack the wrapping paper with little Santas or reindeer, but they definitely come with big ribbons: ribbon-cuttings, ground breakings, a reminder of new airports or completion of road and paving, a refresh of parks, brand new playground equipment.

Then there’s the greatest similarity of all: the food. We could diet all year just to get ready for what we consume during the holidays or the lead-up to elections, especially for all those who show up to every rally to swallow the promises, along with the jerk chicken or ribs. They call it a “meet-and-greet” but for many, it’s a “meat and eat.” A rally without food would be like church without a choir, a sermon without a song to follow.

Again, a little call for honesty. Would as many show up if it weren’t for the food? It’s a good guess that we’ll never know. 

And finally, it wouldn’t be Christmas or election season without all the kisses and hugs, the arms around family members we haven’t seen, the hands we haven’t pumped for a while even though last time we promised to stay in touch and not let so much time pass without getting together. Grown men hug babies. They shake hands with folks who come from all over just for the festivities. 

It’s the most joyous time of the year, every year at the holidays and every so many years--four or five thereabouts, never more than five--at elections. You can feel the electricity in the air, hear all about it on radio, read the headlines. Sales teams are in full force. This is the season that makes or breaks.

The Bahamas takes a deep breath and considers what the next year or years will bring. We do this together as a nation with a certain reverence. And, however we wrap our gifts or bundle our hopes, there’s one thing that unites us – we feel it deeply. The door is open, welcoming the chaos, the spirit, the family squabbles, and the warmth of the hugs.

The season matters. Our participation matters. No one should be left out in the cold. It’s the holidays, the season. There is a place for everyone at the table.

In the end, we are all served.

GETTING IT WRIGHT!

In my column of Friday, 20 March, The Highs and Lows of the Week, I gave plaudits and please-do-these to Commander Berne Wright, Acting Port Controller. We are delighted to say that not only was he firm in maintaining his stance about jet ski reforms and disallowing operators to ride with guests, he cleaned up the waterfront east of Potter’s Cay where cargo containers were parking randomly, sometimes overnight, sometimes for longer. There is now an unobstructed view of the harbour and private equipment is not parked on public land. Thank you, Commander Wright. You got it right and the public thanks you.

Now, if someone could address the problem that the owner of the residence called Folly faces—the poor man is beside himself with woe. That wall has now been hit 21 times, the last time this week. The paint was not even dry from the repairs of the smash the time before. The solution is so simple. Three easy steps. Reinstall the street light that was knocked down in one of the earlier crashes. Install cat’s eyes in the road for better visibility and use calming strips leading from east of Harbour Bay Centre to the turn in East Bay Street. No one should have to live fearing the next crash into their wall, wondering when the car would plow into the house itself. In one of the several just since January, a police officer was killed. What more does it take?