My Mind in the Gutter or: How I Spent My Tuesday at the Office.

This entry is originally dated Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Arriving at work this morning I was greeted by the sight of a multitude of Police vehicles parked along Warner Street... the lack of caffeine at this point, I gave them not but a thought. Sitting in the office sipping lukewarm coffee however, the buzz began to permeate.

Apparently "The Admiral Nelson", the English pub located next to the office (where Rafters used to be for all those Trinis who haven't been home in a little while) was broken into last night. Or should I say, was broken out of last night? An inside job from all appearances, by virtue of all the insider info we got from across the wall today...

• the cabinet housing all the security camera equipment was unlocked with a key, and the cameras were unplugged at their power source (we didn't sell them the security system, thankfully)
• the office was also unlocked with a key and the safe was dragged about halfway across the restaurant, and left behind, too heavy and they couldn't get it open
• the safe was also extra cash-laden as the security company had not been by on Monday morning to pick up the entire weekend's worth of cash flows
• the back doors were broken outwards, forcefully... the one door they didn't have keys for?

But the straw that broke the camel's back was that they had stabbed the guard and left him to die in the freezer. Lucky for him they weren't smart enough to know that the low temperature in the freezer would be enough to slow his heart rate down, and keep him from bleeding out over the course of the next four hours until he was found at roughly 5:30am. He's in crticial but stable condition at the hospital now.

Went out for lunch today, and by then they were finally allowed to clean out the crime scene. Maybe salvage opening tonight since there was no way they would be open for lunch. I've never seen water running down a drain that colour. More appropriate... I have never seen so much blood in a gutter.

This is what they are becoming... opportunistic hunters... willing to kill, to steal an extra cash-heavy safe from the place that was willing to give them a job in the first place. Crime rate is going up, as fast as the total spending on the renovations to the Prime Minister's residence...

P.S. Additional thoughts on the matter...

The government situation is very much like that in the States - two parties that constantly switch power whenever the one that is in power loses favour with the masses. The problem lies in the fact that there is no difference between the two, each is just as power hungry as the next, with no mind for how they go about it. Yes, Trinidad is seeing unprecidented growth under the rule of the PNM party, but at what cost? That growth is also coming with skyrocketing inflation, cost of living, food, crime... and the list goes on. They are "attempting" to fix the problem, but there is little to no headway that I can see, apart from what they parade out in front of the press. And if the UNC takes power with the next election, what are they going to do differently? Answer, nothing, they will still be working towards the same goals with different methodolgy to arrive there.

With the sense of entitlement that the members of the government have, therein lies the sense of entitlement that the people have. When the poor see the rich getting richer, and driving around in cars and living in houses and taking trips all totalling into the millions... why wouldn't they feel entitled? Where's mine, I work hard, but I still live at home and share a car, and can't afford the things I would love to buy for myself, my friends, my family.

Why are you entitled because you feel the need to pick up a knife or gun?