Waiting in line in barbados – Part III
Once I gained my composure, I decided to keep going. I had waited in line in Barbados for nearly two days and this was not a good time to quit. The nice lady in the blue dress was doing her usual thing at counter number one, but she was wearing brown today. Can I help you, she said, barely acknowledging me. Yes, my name is spelt incorrectly on my birth certificate. Ok, go over and stand by the counter, not this long line. Someone will help you. I just knew those words meant no one will help you anytime soon so I shuffled over to the other counter to wait. Sigh!
To my astonishment, the limping lady came over as soon as I made it to the counter and asked what I needed. I told her my name was not right on my birth certificate. She said, let me check something, and don’t move from there or I will forget you, and walked off. After a few minutes she returned to my dismay to tell me the birth certificate was correct. Now I had a really big problem! Ok, wait here while I talk to the legal counsel, she said.
A few minutes went by and I was summoned into to speak to the legal counsel. Come in Mr.Braffit, how can I help you? My initial impression of the legal counsel was that of an iron lady. She wore a two pieced gray pinstriped suit with skirt and a heavy black cardigan to fight off the evil air conditioning. She wore lots of jewelry and multiple ear piercings and she needed manicure. I am trying to apply for a passport and my birth certificate is incorrect, I pleaded again. She said, I will check the archives to see what’s there.
The lady in the grey suit disappeared for a few minutes then returned with the ancient scroll. Your name is spelt correctly on the birth certificate. You would have to apply for a name change, the information needs to be published in the Gazette, the local newspaper for six weeks. Oh no! I replied, how can that be and I am trying for expediency? It will cost you $210 Barbados dollars to change that one letter, she told me.
Ok, I am thinking to myself, yesterday I paid two Barbados dollars for a document with lots of words, but today it will cost me $200 to change one letter. I was not feeling the moment, but the lady in the grey suit smiled reassuringly and said let me see if we can get a waiver. Go over to the cashier pay and then come back, she directed me.
After a few more minutes waiting in line at the cashier, it was my turn. To my chagrin I only had $200 Barbados. I only have 200 Barbados dollars but I do have American money, can you take that? I asked. No, we don’t, but let me see if I can find a buyer. She took the U.S. $10 dollars disappeared and quickly returned with a Barbados $20. Yes, I said to myself, a very good return rate on my exchange. At this point I was ready to celebrate anything. I completed the transaction and headed back over to the lady in the grey suit, thinking nothing unusual about the transaction with the cashier. Let me find a buyer.
After paying my $200 for the letter”a” it was back to the lady in the grey suit. She told me she was going to call the Registrar and ask for a waiver. I had assumed the tall bald head man in the big corner office was the Registrar. “The man”. As it turned out the man was a woman and she was on the third floor. Ok, tell the guard you want to go to the registrar’s office on the third floor as she ushered me out. Thanks, I said, and headed off to see the Registrar.
I made it to the third floor and the registrar area. I am here to see the registrar, she is expecting me, with my little attitude. I was meeting the Registrar! Wait over here by the counter, said the gatekeeper. Thanks, I said, and I took a seat to wait again. Suddenly, I heard, hey, wait, dah is Stanton!? Is that you? Heh, I wasn’t sure, it is so good to see you, come and give me a hug. After hugging April, my energy started returning. I thought April was the registrar and things were going to be good. Give me a second and she disappeared into the registrar’s office. Oops! I thought she was the registrar. No problem.
After about two minutes April returned and told me she spoke with the registrar to let her know we knew each other and had the registrar waive the six weeks publishing. I thanked April gave her a double hug and headed back to the legal counsel’s office.
I anticipated you getting it waived so I went ahead and prepared the documents ahead of time. We only need a signature. So she left and tracked down the big baldheaded man in the corner office for signatures. He quickly signed the form because he had just made a trip to the Registrar’s office and seen me chatting with April. The whole process at the court house took about one hour from start to finish even though everyone seemed to move with all deliberate haste. I was thoroughly amazed that a system that seemed to move so slowly could also produce such expediency. I had no real emergency, but everyone I met went the extra mile to oblige me. I smiled inside.
I hurried back to the immigration office to meet the 1:00 pm deadline, but I was 30 minutes behind schedule. I walked up to the nice young woman behind the thick glass panel and told her I was here to see Mr. Jones. He just went to lunch, but I will let you in and you can have a seat and wait on him until he returns. Five minutes went by and Mr. Jones returned and summoned me in. Ya get through? In his most authoritative Bajan dialect. You did it right just as I told you, looking for some gratitude and self-promotion. Yes, just as you said, and I was quite surprised at the expediency, I said. Once you mention me name you would get through. Mr. Jones seemed pleased with himself and started processing the application. Once again, having a captive audience, Mr. Jones once again commenced to tell me his story. I does work hard seeing a thousand people a day and they don’t pay me enough. Anyway, I got one foot out the door. How soon will you retire, I asked, sensing that he should have retired long ago. Next year! That’s good for you I replied and thanked him for expediency. The moment finally came.
Ok, take these forms and pay the cashier $300. You can pick up the passport between 3:00-3:30 tomorrow. Thanks Mr. Jones, I said, in total bewilderment at the service and expediency I received. I was able to get the passport in less than three days, given the hurdles and my perception of slow government roll.
My perception of how slowly government moves in Barbados has changed a bit. I met lots of nice people, was given preferential treatment at times, and was able to meet and get assistance from some thoughtful persons throughout the whole process. Even grumpy Mr. Jones. What I learned most of all, was patience. I also got a good dose of humility training along the way, and I altered my thinking to some degree about government workers and bureaucracy. I also learned to be a bit more open minded and don’t prejudge others. A further lesson was, respect is commanded and not demanded, and no matter what your station is in life, you deserve as much respect as anyone else. The gatekeeper, the confident lady in the cobalt blue dress, turned out to be the most respected person in the establishment. “Expediency” and “Oblige” became my two favorite Bajan words.
I picked up my passport on the Friday at 3:00 pm from the immigration office. Today, I am planning to start a partial move back to Barbados in July, 2016 to work on my dissertation for my PhD and meet others so I can tell their stories.
Bajan Hotsauce: A true story by Stan
