Will JacksonToday, we present the finalof our Walking Back Series.
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Walking Back
The Negative andPositive
Will Jackson
Today, we present the finalof our Walking Back Series.
The old folks didn't have any money andthey didn't worry about it. They lived happily with what theyhad.
Young people and youths were taught to besatisfied with what they could obtain honestly. There was no televisionto watch beguiled by corrupt programmes and tempting fashion displays,plus violent shows.
The old days were pure ones, which giveshe answer to the fact that for the first half of this 20th century,there was no need for a general prison, or a large police force;no need for a large and modern Court House; for barristers andjudges residing in the Island.
The time when Grand Cayman was as good asCayman Brac still is. The Brac must be commended for all the law-abidingpeople who still live there. Of course in every box of apples,there are sure to be a few rotten ones. Nevertheless, at the sametime there are lots of young people in Grand Cayman right now,who can be depended upon to direct the future affairs of the country.We lift our hats as older ones to the serious-minded, wise youngpeople.
We have moved away from the horse and donkeydays to the fast and flashy motor car. In yards where donkeysonce cropped after performing their day's task, there is a commonthing to see three or more cars parked for the night, where eachmember of the family has his/her own car. Even so, in that sameyard, there once stood a wattle and daubed, thatch house in whichdwelt a family of 10 to 12, the parents and children.
Walk by that area today and look at thelarge and beautiful modern house, gracing a fabulous landscape.At just a glance in the yard, you can know that there are twoor three television sets inside. The high-rise antennae tell thestory of life inside. A lot of people now have Direct TV.
Our fore parents knew nothing of such luxuries,no, not even in their wildest dreams; but they were happy andlived contentedly. They didn't have much but whatever they hadbelonged to them. They didn't have to worry about how soon thebank would fore close, or the creditors would reclaim their goods.
The truth is, the old Cayman has disappearedbeneath the surface of the sea of forgetfulness, and can onlybe glimpsed in an 'old-timers' mind such as myself, who lovedso many things about those gone days.
For those who lived through the Christmasesof yester-year, there is much to remember. No, Christmas doesn'teven spell the same today as in the old time' we hear frequentlyabout Xmas, and truly that is the way it is; Christ as been takeout of the season and carousing and drunkenness have filled thegap instead.
What now, shall I say more? Nothing remainsthe same today, as it was yesterday. Tomorrow is in the unknown.As we face the end of this 20th century, we cannot help thinkingas humans, what will century twenty-one offer; will 25 years inthe future be the same in the Cayman Islands as the year 2000?We can't foretell those future years, and what they hold in store.But, one thing we may always be sure of - God, the all-wise one,is still in control. May he always be allowed to control the CaymanIslands and her people.