"Long
time no see. Welcome back. How you do?" Amar the young fruit-vendor greet.
"I
ketch the terrible, awful American
flu, the one they talking about in the news over there," I say.
Saturday
morning was the first time I really appreciate we good ol' Guyana sun (GOGS) while
buying me fruits and veggies. The GOGS warm-up me cockles...though I must admit,
I ain't know what 'cockles' is, I only read about it in books. I think it is somewhere in me lungs, because
as soon as the GOGS shine upon me back, the thought pop into me head, Ahhh, the GOGS is warming me cockles.
I
believe that all that air-conditioning in America ain't good, I believe it is
what gimme the fever and the hot-and-cold
shivers and the cough and the mean, green glob in me chest. But, I must admit, if a certain auntie (I
ain't naming names) did wash she
hands before she touch me tea-mug, I swear I wouldn'ta ketch the 'flu.
Amar the
fruit-vendor is working up a response, I can see he mixing mischief with a smile
in he face. "Well, at least you bring back something from America,"
he say.
He
mother laugh quiet-quiet as she arrange them apples.
As
sick as I be, I laugh too. As we does say, If
we don't laugh, we gon cry.
Truth
to tell, this was the first response from we-the-people that ain't scare me. As
soon as we-the-people hear about a sickness, we does talk about who-and-who
dead from it.
Whops, right off the bat, one
cousin in America tell me, "You must be careful, one friend didn't take
all her medication and she died in her sleep."
I
tremble with fright at that, but Mr. Abdool the taxi-driver make me shake as if
I had the ague.
From
Florida, I phone he in Guyana to arrange a pick-up for me at we airport. "Assalamalaikum, how you do?" he say.
Then he voice rise. "You got to be careful with tha' 'flu, babe. It make
one whole set o' people in America kick the bucket."
I know
it is we-the-people's way of saying, Take
care, look after yourself. But, as a True-Born-Hypochondriac, fright 'n' fear 'n' terror make me avoid buckets since I come home.
I rest
me bag on Amar stool to think better about things. "You know, I didn't ketch this dammm 'flu. Ketching something mean you run after it
'cause you want it. I hide from the bleddy
thing but it ketch me," I
declare.
Quick
as a wicked wink, Amar respond. "Well, at least America give you
something."
Being
a generous gal, and...y'know...they say sharing is good, I contemplate briefly coughing
in he face.
28 comments:
lol! You didn't cough in her face...that's good. Thank God the flu hasn't caught me either. I'm still running. Take care, GG!
Get well soon, GG! xx
Well, that damn'-bad germ doan' kill you yet. (As my Jamaican friend said)
Apart from flu, I hope you had some fun over there, GG.Welcome back!
You gave me a laugh with your final comment! It is no joke, this flu, and I hope you'll get over it soon. Too bad you got it as a going-away present from the US!
Miss Footloose, I got lots of beautiful gifts from the US, so those make up for this &^%$#@! flu :-D
Dinah, ohhh boy, I had tons of fun. And guess what. I found your post-card with your address! Expect snail-mail.
Stephen, run, run, hide under the bed! Happy new year.
I am still waiting for my snail mail for a few months now. Enjoy the sun we are freezing here. The cold did ketch me but I was prepared, in 5 days he was gone!
Get better fast with all those fresh veg and fruits. xxx
Sooshie, I went to the post office in the US. They had a line. With humans. The post office lady was friendly. I sent snail mail! And it reached it's destination before I left the US!
Normally, within 2 or 3 days, my cold is gone, but this one ain't BUDGING! Pleeeease tell me what you did to get rid of yours. How were you prepared?
I use cockles often:
Cultural Dictionary
warm the cockles of one's heart definition
To cause a feeling of affectionate happiness: “The thought of his grandmother was enough to warm the cockles of his heart.”
We have 'flu injections every October. It might be worth looking into GG.
A pox on folk who do not wash their hands.
Oh that Amar!
yes i heard about the flu... i was supposed to be in us for business but got out of the trip... and now i'm thinking a good move would be to work from home next week lest i catch a flu from colleagues coming back from the US!!! have a shot of vodka with honey and lemmon- you'll be cured immediately.
you ketch de ting watching Pi..people been coughing. Next day, you did start coming down wid it.
Hiya GG, thankyou for the comment - ain't dead yet .. just a bit quiet ...
Hope dere aint no nasty hurricanes up yer way (?).
Has been a bit bushfirey in this part of the Aussie continent - but nowhere near here.
Best regards, D
Welcome back GG! Hope you're all better now. I baked after ages today - a simple vanilla butter cake that made my whole place smell divine. Wish I could have you over for some cake and chai! Take care. Hugs
best, also, he don' bring u long gun
Hi Davo, good to see you ain't dead yet. I wish there were pics of the horsie and you, haha.
Those bush fires down under have made it on the news everywhere.
Keep a water-pistol nearby...
We don't have hurricanes, but we do have a man-made disaster... politicians.
Mmm, CC, you're up and about, that's wonderful after your illness.
Speaking of chai, ohhhh myyyy goodness, my sister has the most divine tea with cardamom and I forgot to raid her cupboard, boooo me.
KFM, I didn't hear nobody coughin' in de cinema and de people were so far away. But then, it could be that wicked Richard Parker, he almost jumped at me.
Ale, he loves to tease.
You should see him in his trendy clothes. I think he's a uni. student.
You're right to work from home...you don't want the baby to get sick!
Pat, thank you. Now I'm going to look up the origin of 'cockles', you know how I love words.
You're right about the flu shots, but I don't know if they're available here. I should've gotten one when I was in Florida. I thought I was invulnerable.
'cockles' .. um methinks it's some sort of "British" allegory. ie; they are a little seaside inhabitant. When the going gets tough -- just close the shell and dig deep into the sand.
We could do with some GOGS here, rather than the cold grey Scottish lack of sun... (CGSLOS?)
OK, Kim, I will stand on the seawall and huff and puff some sunshine up north. I've never done it with sunshine before but I make people blow rain here every time it gets too hot. My nephew, Sasho, did it for me.
Davoh, aha, so when we eat the cockles, and the going gets tough, the cockles close their shell and dive deep into our heart and...oh, this is getting too complicated...
JohnG, thank you x x
Why do your comments always get deleted? I was just checking the deleted items and found yours there, not nice at all
:-(
I am paranoid about the flu this year also and wash my hands over and over, oh wait, that's just dish washing. I caught a cold and PRAYED to somewhere that it wouldn't be the flu, and someone answered my prayer and it was only a little miserable cold which will probably be gone tomorrow, hopefully. I had the classic influenza last year, and can totally understand what you went thru and are continuing to go thru. It took me 2 months to really feel better. I wish pon you lots of cups of tea with honey and a warm afghan (blanket, not person) on those cold front days. Stay well my friend.
oh GG, poor you....T would make you bush tea...me...I try to hold my breath on the bus ....love your generosity!!!!!
Zooms, ask T. for a bush tea recipe for me!
I wouldn't wish this thing on any good human being...actually, not even bad-minded people, they'd want to spread it around.
Caribbean, I'm so glad you're well, you've gone through so much and you deserve a break!
And look what wonderful work you're putting out now, joy joy.
Two months. Wow. It's good you've told me this, otherwise I'd think I'd never get better. Everyone's avoiding me, especially the people I tutor in English. Sob.
G,
I think you're right about the flu catching us and not the other way round. There's a frightening movie called Contagion that's all about catching things. Most depressing thing I've seen for a long while. A person can't even get the bus without also getting a deadly infection. I suppose the message is, don't go out, don't have fun, don't touch anything, don't touch anyone, always boil your hands before eating meals and never, ever, ever sneeze in the face of local vendors. Keeping tightly to those simple rules will ensure health and happiness... well health at least... okay, a little happiness then... hmmm, not much point to any of it if everyone else is doing their own thing. Bugger. Foiled again.
Dan, I ain't even going to peep at that film! I will shrivel up with fright...and being a coward already...
Oh, the things I do sometimes...pick fruit from the tree, wipe it on my jeans and sluuuurp...then later think, waaaah, suppose a bird had poo'd on it...?
Now G,
don't get me going on bird poo!
x
Heh, Dan, please do, go on about bird poo x
Great story! IT made me laugh a lot, i hope ur feeling better
G,
A small thesis on the ubiquity of bird poo.
When striding the concrete byways of Manchester it's wise to keep an eye on the path beneath your feet because dog poo is a constant threat. But this inconvenience is small compared to the threat caused by birds pooing upon innnocent heads. Birds also poo on public seating, on small children and on carpets beated and awaiting removal from the washing line. Indeed there appears no part of outside life upon which a bird is isn't prepared to poo should the chance present. I could go on further but not without the risk of becoming upset. So I'll stop here. For decorum's sake if nothing else.
haha, omg this post make me laugh till me belly hut, even though I feel sorry for u that u sick though. I hope u feel better now though. Hope you had an awesome trip in Florida.
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