Kindness and god and the stink-mouth drunk man in the minibus in Guyana..

Nice evening, breeze blowing. Minibus with driver alone pulls.. up Campbelville Campbelville. Nice radio tunes playing, nutting loud and dutty.

Bus empty and a few passengers jump in. Place is between day and night.  No conductor and I aint able sit near no door because Church road is a long way via Campbelville and I aint able sling door..

A school boy jumps in though.. sits near the door and assumes the control .. I feel a bit ashamed.. kindness number 1 in the minibus.. in fact many people just sit near the door to do the slinging in a voluntary kind of way. I imagine myself.. Dear god , I went and sling door (open and close the bus door) today and do me good deed from bourda market to church road.. how much sin dat gun forgive?

(This year, nuff buses without conductors ..and I h ear one conductor shouting to passengers..choosing between his bus and another bus with driver alone.. yall doan go in deh.. yall gun gah fuh open door yall self)

Bus stops and we see a bald headed man dressed in tee shirt and khaki shorts leaning in and mumbling something and smiling and holding a pen in his hand.

Driver turn back, school boy looking at driver for instructions.. Driver nod he head and the man jump in the bus and try to give the driver the pen.

Apparently he does not have money for the fare.

Man is smiling all the time and of all the empty seats in the bus, he choose to sit to the one next to me where his smile outlined the stink breath of liquor from today and yesterday and from his past birth.

Two women in front telling the driver that he doing a good deed.  One woman open her purse and take out two hundred dollars and turn back and give the man.

I wonder if she aint smell the man mouth, that the man gun tek the money and buy liquor.


Man smiling and gives r her the pen and she takes it.

"I am a teacher" .. she says.. "I will use it"

Driver takes out a pen and turns around and give her and says.. all right tek this one then.

We all smile. Man next to me laugh though and turn to me and start gaffing and blowing the alcohol I don't drink in my face.

I ask him his name.. and he say Ram, Mahadeo and I say that is good name and he smile and mumble and say yes.. God.. Lord Shiva
 I tell him' You are God' and he smile and say yes, yes he know.. because he hear dis before

I say.. but how you throw liquor in God suh man?

He say. yes.. i know, you right you right..

Driver look in rear view mirror at me and seh.. man. in one ear and out the other.
School boy and women in the seat in front of me looking ahead but kind of nodding..

Man blowing alcohol fumes at me and start saying.. who is Godl, how mcuh God they have.. and I say like if I is another drunk man.. you is god,


and as bus slowly moves along and church road via Campbelville is taking long to come and man preaching god to me and talking about Ganesh, the 1000 names of  Lord Shiva and how he read books as a child in Canada.

At some point, I remember the Hindu scriptures and the story of the thief shaking in the bay tree and the leaves falling on the lingam below and that being taken as worship, in advertently.. and I am wondering if the drunk man in his blowing the names of God with the alcohol fumes is God for true.

Man jumps out of the bus. Smiling. Driver smiles lil bit.

I say, Driver.. man, you really know fuh bless you passenger dem..

Driver say.. 'yeah man, I wuk at Ministry of Health so I try to help people"
I still smelling the liquor and I say.. oh shoots man.. but he drunk ,, you aint tinkin bout me..
and the driver said.. .. yeah man.. even the drunk man..

I think of the woman who was failed by all the government services.. who today was going to be arrested because the orderly would not allow her in the courtroom and the magistrate who did not bother to ask anything.. and I think of the driver here and how much more of a decent citizen he is than the magistrate who would not understand that the woman was on the streets and clothes were the last thing on her mind and who we are supposed to call 'your worship'...

and as the stink mouth man chanted God's names without realising it and I think of the article I have to help out talking about alcohol and the evils of alcohol and how in these few minutes in the minibus.. the Good might have overcome the evil for a while..

and I pray that I don't  have to put up with no other stink mout drunk man reminding me of how God operates..