Is Trini 'rell sweet'?

Paolo Kernahan

"Trini rell sweet!" is something you might mutter while reading of disgraced former PNM minister Daryl Smith going from cringey ignominy to spectacular political resurrection – with his trademark cat-that-got-the-cream smirk. Only in sweet TT.

Spoken with the right inflection "Trini rell sweet" could mean two completely different things; it can be an expression of incandescent pride or noxious disgust.

There was some minor discussion online recently over wildly conflicting perceptions of life here. Many citizens truly believe this country is the best place to live.

Naturally, that viewpoint depends on many factors, all of which colour an individual's experience; relative wealth, personal security and gated protection from hordes of bipedal predators, party affiliations and government contacts that prop an insta-worthy lifestyle, having one foot in Trini and one foot in Miami – the list goes on.

The vast majority of citizens, however, must contend with the toxic politics of self-interest and the insidious race rhetoric that hangs in the air like the poisonous miasma of the Labasse.

The rank and file carry the burden of uninspired, failed leadership: cutthroat crime, crumbling infrastructure, perverse income inequality, economic stagnation, and so on.

Too often, those who speak plainly of our dreadful lot are branded as haters obsessed with bad-talking the country. There was one comment online suggesting that the notion that this place is hell is way off base. First of all, a place doesn't need to be hell to be unliveable. Secondly, notions of hell are relative.

Hell could be a lukewarm beer or "champers" on a scorcher down the islands; "An' I told y'all to buy more ice-ah!". Alternatively, it could be repeated armed invasions of your business.

As far as perceptions of hell go, the devil doesn't complain about his abode nor do corbeaux eat sponge cake.

Conversations about the quality of life often dabble in comparisons to other countries. There is no utopian ideal; every nation has downsides. The cost of living in Canada, a favourite destination for fleeing Trinis, is eye-watering in some provinces.

Still, in Canada, there's an undeniable quality of life through affordable, dependable health care, relatively low crime rates, safe spaces for public recreation, broad access to healthy foods, an excellent education system, and overall a good environment in which to raise a family.

In sweet T&T, for example, the only people who can comfortably wear jewellery outside their homes are the ones most likely to relieve you of it. The gap between the well-off and the struggling is ever-widening. Wages for the majority remain static while the costs of everything can't sit still.

People who lionise the Trini lifestyle often comment on how hard you have to work in other countries – to the extent that the grind diminishes the quality of life. While there is some merit to that argument, it isn't universally true.

My sister lives in Texas and while she isn't shovelling coal into a locomotive steam engine, her profession is extraordinarily demanding.

There can be no doubt, though, that there was no opportunity for her to apply her training and education in TT. Even with her punishing schedule, I daresay she has a better quality of life in the US than she would have been afforded at home.

Most sweet TT cheerleaders often cite the creativity of our people. Would any of them like to ask creative types in this country how they're getting on? What's it like as a creative to earn a reasonably consistent, healthy income here? Perhaps they should ask David Rudder, Rikki Jai, and Nikki Crosby for starters.

Some of our most talented people leave this "island paradise" for other countries hoping to build lives beyond occasional gigs and low-paid slogs. This country might be an incubator for creative prowess, whether that prowess can thrive here is debatable.

It's often said what makes this place special is our joie de vivre. Trinis take this lust for life to extremes. That's why many public offices open late and close early. In between those meagre hours, extracting anything useful out of the average public servant is like smashing rocks with your fists.

For those infuriated by the prevailing conditions in Trinidad, what makes living here so unbearable is the knowledge of how much better this country could be. We are bursting at the seams with smothered potential. This country is a paradise for a precious few. For most of us the Trini that is "rell sweet" exists on paper only.