Shouldering responsibility

AS TOLD TO BC PIRES

My name is Alvin Alexis and I run a car park in San Fernando.

Running a car park. That’s what I do right now.

And I can’t do nothing more until I get my shoulder back in order.

I am born and bred in San Fernando.

I’ve lived in Vistabella all my life. Never left.

Boy days were nice because, them times, they didn’t have no crime and thing going on. You could play pitch, bounce ball, buss bamboo, make box-cart, all them thing.

Children still bussing bamboo now, but they not making box-cart again. I have to make one for my nephew-them.

I not so young that I don’t know about spinning top. I’s 48 years.

I’m married to Bernadette and we have three children, Colin, aged 13, Celine, 11, and Claude, seven.

I started my family late. The majority of my friends had children before me. Their children are big fellas. I’m the only one behind.

This one decide she ent ready for children. That one not sure.

I just pull away from them. I ready to start and all you just studying to lime!

Things real good family-wise now.

I met Bernadette when I was on the Chaguanas MovieTowne construction site and she came in as a trainee. We teach them how to lay blocks, plaster and thing.

It wasn’t unusual to have females in construction at the time. They have plenty now. And some of them better than you, yes!

I went San Fernando Methodist Primary, then Pleasantville Junior and Pleasantville Senior.

I liked school. But I wasn’t so good at it. In maths, yeah! English? Not so good.

While I was going to school, too, I was doing a little construction work with my father. That’s where I picked it up. He worked on the Scotiabank building, all kind of thing. He would carry me on jobs.

I grow up RC but I do my children in Revival Time. On the wharf right there.

When I wanted to married, the Catholic church didn’t want to marry me and my wife, ‘cause she had a divorce. Them don’t believe in them kinda thing.

But when two people can’t make it, it don’t make no sense for them to stay together. They believe you have to stay there.

Your body is just a shell. It will pass on.

What I really go on is day-by-day. I don’t study too much far in front. You never know what could happen today, tomorrow. You does still end up having to make a lot of plans, eh. You can’t help it.

I don’t have any chance to relax. With them children? Nah!

My big son is right at the age where children get difficult. And my daughter right behind him!

Them always fighting, every minute. I ent know why.

I like my pan music, my calypso and my soca.

But I listen to my little soft music, too, to relax my head. Slow jams. On a Sunday and you sleeping out, I put on the Bee Gees and thing. And my friends say, “Wh’appen? Like you’s a old man!”

After school, I used to be High Street selling clothes. Standing up in front, telling people come take a look inside, buy clothes and thing.

After that, I was spraying houses and warehouses with a chemical company. Termites, roaches and thing.

But I was doing construction in between.

I was better than half the masons I met in construction. Because I was handling brick and trowel from young, through my father.

But I don’t do the same thing with my children. Them only on tab! Tablet!

When I tell them, “Come and try your hand!” They tell me, “That hard!”

I tell them they have to try. Because you can’t be paying people to do things for you right through!

The times real change up. You have to hide the tablets and the phones from children if you want to get them to go outside!

I got injured working down Atlantic.

We were putting in a tracking plate to hold the building itself, to stop the structure from going side-to-side. So when I holding it up now, the men supposed to plumb it and tie it down.

But them stand up there, quarrelling with one another and two supervisor! And forget me under there!

So I get a strain and end up with an open chest plate. Between my chest, it have a little space.

It don’t thing up really unless the place cold-cold-cold. My cartilage wear out between the joint.

According to who it is, I will walk with my little pain tablets and go and give them a hand in construction. If is a pardner want a little hand to do something home.

Other than that, nah! Because my shoulder damage! That is how I end up in the car park.

I still doing physical therapy for my injury. Up to when I went last month, the girl tell me, “Don’t use no hammer!” But I have things to fix!

If BC Pires ask if my big son can’t help, I say he go pound he finger! He’s only 13!

Even though, at that age, I did done know plenty already. This generation… Ah, I don’t know.

I used to play pan, but with my shoulder damage, I can’t.

I playing pan with West Stars since I small, but is more than three years. since I get the injury. I ent play no pan. I just go and support.

I used to play nine-bass. Turning back and forth would hurt my shoulder…

But that is the excitement! Can’t do that again. Swing so and swing back so. That would hurt.

A panman will always be a panman. Once you hear that music, you can’t resist.

I trying to get my children-them interested in it.

Is be a little difficult in the car park sometimes, to deal with some of the people and them, they a little difficult sometimes. Their attitude and thing.

But other than that, you’s meet some nice ones.

The elements. A little rain, a little sun.

The bad part of the car park is it always have more people wanting to park that it have spaces in the car park. You’s have to send some people away and then they vexed.

You’s tell them you can’t block up other people. But because they park for free, they feel they could do what they want. Cause we renting the car park.

They say they have permission to park from so-and-so – they lying, you know! And then the owner says the customer wouldn’t lie.

I’d still talk to them nice. You can’t let them bother you.

The good part of the car park is sometimes you meet nice people.

I am at the car park from 7 am-5, 5.30 pm.

The crime situation gone too haywire.

I never been robbed or anything directly, but I see it going on already. Passing in my vehicle, I see a man on a bicycle stick up people with a gun on the road. Taking they thing and running with it.

Is young children in this crime stupidness. They ent even self reach a good age yet and the parents-them, when they come home with big money, they not asking where they get it.

And, when they get shoot now, “Oh, he was a good boy! They shoot him for no reason!”

What they shoot him for? It have to be something.

I keep my my eye on my own sons and on myself, ‘cause the little change I making, they going behind the poor man too! Nobody getting away.

A Trini is a person that, no matter where they go, they always enjoy theyself.

If a place a little dead, a Trini will go there and the place will just liven up. It’s not the partying, is just a vibes.

Anywhere you go, people will watch you and say, “You’s a Trini!” Is a vibes we push off.

Everybody knows Trinidad and Tobago is home, which is true. At the end of the day, you go somewhere, there could never be here.

As a Trinidadian, you have a certain amount of freedom that you could walk with. When you go outside there, it have plenty restrictions, you can’t do this, you can’t do that.

Down here, you could do what you want because you accustomed. In Trinidad, you don’t have anything to tie you down.

You can’t go to America and answer back police. They go shoot you.

Don’t mind them down here shooting you now, eh.

Read the full version of this feature on Friday evening at www.BCPires.com