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FM
Former Member

Today is December 15.

For many decades this is the date on which government employees in Guyana get their last pay cheque for the year.

Public servants, policemen, firefighters, nurses, etc. all look forward to this particular pay day. For many, it's the only money available to buy Christmas gifts, decorations for their homes, special food, etc.

This year, because December 15 falls on Sunday, government workers are to be paid tomorrow. There will be long queues at commercial banks and the real Christmas shopping will begin.

Store owners, shopkeepers, market vendors, hucksters etc. are expecting a steep rise in sales revenue. So are beer garden operators, rum shop proprietors and restauranteurs.

On the dark side, thieves and pickpockets and choke-and-robbers and three-card con men are planning to seize the moment.

Yes, December 15 is a big day in Guyana. I remember.

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The pay checks were sealed with a part cut out, so you could count the bills without opening the envelopes. 

One December 15, one of my young female staff invited me to lunch because it was the first time she received a raise.

We went to Watercress, and when the bill came in, she forgot all about the spirit of Christmas, and I had to pay the whole bill.

You could say she got the raise not me.

FM
Originally Posted by skeldon_man:
Originally Posted by warrior:

the raise these public servant get for the Christmas go to palm court and see them boys spend it in one hr

de reasen dem decide fuh pay on the 16th also is because yuh choke an rab phamily would ah wait fuh dem. Dem jess want fuh be careful. Nah feel too bad.

i told my family to stop choke and rob people if they want to thief let them join the ppp government its natural 

FM

I remember December 15, 1972.

I got my pay and collected my share of a box-hand I was throwing with my co-workers. Altogether, the equivalent of three months' pay.

Immediately after work I walked to Acme Photo Studio on Regent Street and bought myself a German-made Agfa instamatic camera. It used 126 film cartridge and flash cubes. Each cube gave off 4 flashes. The print pictures were 3.5 inches square.

I worked that camera like a slave-driver. Not only personal pictures of friends and relatives.

I took an interest in kokers as a photographic theme and produced snapshots of almost all Georgetown kokers and some countryside ones.

The weekend before the infamous 1973 elections I accompanied Mrs Janet Jagan to a campaign meeting at Windsor Forest. My handy Agfa camera was put to work.

Two weeks after the elections Dr Jagan invited me to join him on trips to Canal #2 Polder and the Courentyne. I took pictures of Dr Jagan speaking at public meetings.

One day I was walking through the Berbice car park when I noticed carpenters demolishing the King George V Hotel at the junction of Commerce and Longden Streets. Knowing that a historic building was soon to go, I took pictures of it. In the 1920s thru 1940s the King George V was a top hotel in Georgetown.

On May 31, 1974, the trains ran for the last time from Vreed-en-Hoop to Parika. I armed myself with my camera and a notepad and rode on the train, taking pics of the driver and chatting with him too. Later, I wrote an article, attached the photos, and sent them to the Mirror newspaper. They published it in the centre-spread.

And so it went, pictures at the zoo and gardens, pictures at Parika and Leguan, pictures on top the Pegasus Hotel, etc.

All of that and more, the outcome of spending some of my pay on December 15, 1972.

FM
Originally Posted by Gilbakka:

On May 31, 1974, the trains ran for the last time from Vreed-en-Hoop to Parika. I armed myself with my camera and a notepad and rode on the train, taking pics of the driver and chatting with him too. Later, I wrote an article, attached the photos, and sent them to the Mirror newspaper. They published it in the centre-spread.

 

I was on that train for my first (and last) train ride. Post the picture so I can see if I am in it.

FM
Originally Posted by ksazma:
Originally Posted by Gilbakka:

On May 31, 1974, the trains ran for the last time from Vreed-en-Hoop to Parika. I armed myself with my camera and a notepad and rode on the train, taking pics of the driver and chatting with him too. Later, I wrote an article, attached the photos, and sent them to the Mirror newspaper. They published it in the centre-spread.

 

I was on that train for my first (and last) train ride. Post the picture so I can see if I am in it.

ksazma, I regret I'm unable to post the pictures.

Here's what happened: When my wife, son and I migrated to Canada 17 years ago, we brought only three suitcases containing personal effects, a few books and pics of myself and family. All the other photos I had left in the care of a close friend who himself migrated to Florida some time ago. The last time I asked him, he confessed that he had disposed of them. I felt sad but understood; he didn't have a sentimental attachment to the photos.

While we're at it, I must mention that when Fidel Castro visited Guyana in September 1973, I took a few pics of him and Prime Minister Burnham arriving on Avenue of the Republic to lay wreaths at the Non-Aligned Monument. I stood on the west edge of the canal to get those shots.

Then, in 1974, a Brazilian frigate landed in the Demerara River. I stood at the goods wharf aback Stabroek Market with my camera to capture the frigate.

All those pics were in the bundle I left with my friend.

I'm sure you would appreciate the high material and emotional cost we pay when we leave our homeland to live in a strange land.

FM
Originally Posted by warrior:
Originally Posted by skeldon_man:
Originally Posted by warrior:

the raise these public servant get for the Christmas go to palm court and see them boys spend it in one hr

de reasen dem decide fuh pay on the 16th also is because yuh choke an rab phamily would ah wait fuh dem. Dem jess want fuh be careful. Nah feel too bad.

i told my family to stop choke and rob people if they want to thief let them join the ppp government its natural 

Waan ah dem name Bharat Jagdeo. He ah you olda brudda.

FM
Originally Posted by Gilbakka:
Originally Posted by TI:

Exciting life there Gilly, but did the East Coast train stop before the West Coast one? I thought it was before 1974.

TI, the East Coast trains stopped running in 1972. That was the Georgetown to Rosignol run.

 

CORRECTION: The Georgetown-Rosignol railway stopped running in 1970.

My sincere apology.

Thanks to the esteemed comrade who brought it to my attention.

Sometimes Gilbakka is liable to slip-slide like a mud cuirass.

FM
Originally Posted by chameli:

Sir Bookman, i am not sure about the date of your pic of Parika train...maybe the day you stated was the last official day but i am sure that the train ran free of charge on June 30, 1974 and that people were hanging out of every widow and even riding on top!  i know this because i went to the Atkinson airport that day and when i got back, the train was blowing hard as it passed my home (which was about 50 ft from the train line) and ppl were packed like sardine!!! 

Chameli, I just checked a 1974 calendar online and I must admit that you are correct. June 30 that year fell on a Sunday, May 30 did not. The last train ran on the last Sunday of June 1974. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Again, Gilbakka slipped like a mud cuirass. My apology.

FM
Originally Posted by Gilbakka:
Originally Posted by ksazma:
Originally Posted by Gilbakka:

On May 31, 1974, the trains ran for the last time from Vreed-en-Hoop to Parika. I armed myself with my camera and a notepad and rode on the train, taking pics of the driver and chatting with him too. Later, I wrote an article, attached the photos, and sent them to the Mirror newspaper. They published it in the centre-spread.

 

I was on that train for my first (and last) train ride. Post the picture so I can see if I am in it.

ksazma, I regret I'm unable to post the pictures.

Here's what happened: When my wife, son and I migrated to Canada 17 years ago, we brought only three suitcases containing personal effects, a few books and pics of myself and family. All the other photos I had left in the care of a close friend who himself migrated to Florida some time ago. The last time I asked him, he confessed that he had disposed of them. I felt sad but understood; he didn't have a sentimental attachment to the photos.

While we're at it, I must mention that when Fidel Castro visited Guyana in September 1973, I took a few pics of him and Prime Minister Burnham arriving on Avenue of the Republic to lay wreaths at the Non-Aligned Monument. I stood on the west edge of the canal to get those shots.

Then, in 1974, a Brazilian frigate landed in the Demerara River. I stood at the goods wharf aback Stabroek Market with my camera to capture the frigate.

All those pics were in the bundle I left with my friend.

I'm sure you would appreciate the high material and emotional cost we pay when we leave our homeland to live in a strange land.

Bookman I now remember you there at the Non-Aligned Monument.  I remember you walking up to the edge with the camera.  I think there were two other guys there not far from you.  They were also in the PPP.  There was a crowd of people there also standing around on the street paths surrounding the Monument area.  Burnham was sitting next to Castro in a car that came up to the Monument area.  You were a young man in those days.

FM
Last edited by Former Member
Originally Posted by Wally:
Originally Posted by Gilbakka:
Originally Posted by ksazma:
Originally Posted by Gilbakka:

On May 31, 1974, the trains ran for the last time from Vreed-en-Hoop to Parika. I armed myself with my camera and a notepad and rode on the train, taking pics of the driver and chatting with him too. Later, I wrote an article, attached the photos, and sent them to the Mirror newspaper. They published it in the centre-spread.

 

I was on that train for my first (and last) train ride. Post the picture so I can see if I am in it.

ksazma, I regret I'm unable to post the pictures.

Here's what happened: When my wife, son and I migrated to Canada 17 years ago, we brought only three suitcases containing personal effects, a few books and pics of myself and family. All the other photos I had left in the care of a close friend who himself migrated to Florida some time ago. The last time I asked him, he confessed that he had disposed of them. I felt sad but understood; he didn't have a sentimental attachment to the photos.

While we're at it, I must mention that when Fidel Castro visited Guyana in September 1973, I took a few pics of him and Prime Minister Burnham arriving on Avenue of the Republic to lay wreaths at the Non-Aligned Monument. I stood on the west edge of the canal to get those shots.

Then, in 1974, a Brazilian frigate landed in the Demerara River. I stood at the goods wharf aback Stabroek Market with my camera to capture the frigate.

All those pics were in the bundle I left with my friend.

I'm sure you would appreciate the high material and emotional cost we pay when we leave our homeland to live in a strange land.

Bookman I now remember you there at the Non-Aligned Monument.  I remember you walking up to the edge with the camera.  I think there were two other guys there not far from you.  They were also in the PPP.  There was a crowd of people there also standing around on the street paths surrounding the Monument area.  Burnham was sitting next to Castro in a car that came up to the Monument area.  You were a young man in those days.

Wally, you were there too! Yes, I did walk to the edge to take out the photos. A few feet behind me was UG political science lecturer Dr Sheik Insanally with a placard.

FM
Originally Posted by Gilbakka:
Originally Posted by ksazma:
Originally Posted by Gilbakka:

On May 31, 1974, the trains ran for the last time from Vreed-en-Hoop to Parika. I armed myself with my camera and a notepad and rode on the train, taking pics of the driver and chatting with him too. Later, I wrote an article, attached the photos, and sent them to the Mirror newspaper. They published it in the centre-spread.

 

I was on that train for my first (and last) train ride. Post the picture so I can see if I am in it.

ksazma, I regret I'm unable to post the pictures.

Here's what happened: When my wife, son and I migrated to Canada 17 years ago, we brought only three suitcases containing personal effects, a few books and pics of myself and family. All the other photos I had left in the care of a close friend who himself migrated to Florida some time ago. The last time I asked him, he confessed that he had disposed of them. I felt sad but understood; he didn't have a sentimental attachment to the photos.

While we're at it, I must mention that when Fidel Castro visited Guyana in September 1973, I took a few pics of him and Prime Minister Burnham arriving on Avenue of the Republic to lay wreaths at the Non-Aligned Monument. I stood on the west edge of the canal to get those shots.

Then, in 1974, a Brazilian frigate landed in the Demerara River. I stood at the goods wharf aback Stabroek Market with my camera to capture the frigate.

All those pics were in the bundle I left with my friend.

I'm sure you would appreciate the high material and emotional cost we pay when we leave our homeland to live in a strange land.

Frigging Frigate

I know what you mean about leaving valuable stuff in Guyana. I wish I had brought my red phone.

FM
Originally Posted by Wally:
Originally Posted by Gilbakka:
Originally Posted by ksazma:
Originally Posted by Gilbakka:

On May 31, 1974, the trains ran for the last time from Vreed-en-Hoop to Parika. I armed myself with my camera and a notepad and rode on the train, taking pics of the driver and chatting with him too. Later, I wrote an article, attached the photos, and sent them to the Mirror newspaper. They published it in the centre-spread.

 

I was on that train for my first (and last) train ride. Post the picture so I can see if I am in it.

ksazma, I regret I'm unable to post the pictures.

Here's what happened: When my wife, son and I migrated to Canada 17 years ago, we brought only three suitcases containing personal effects, a few books and pics of myself and family. All the other photos I had left in the care of a close friend who himself migrated to Florida some time ago. The last time I asked him, he confessed that he had disposed of them. I felt sad but understood; he didn't have a sentimental attachment to the photos.

While we're at it, I must mention that when Fidel Castro visited Guyana in September 1973, I took a few pics of him and Prime Minister Burnham arriving on Avenue of the Republic to lay wreaths at the Non-Aligned Monument. I stood on the west edge of the canal to get those shots.

Then, in 1974, a Brazilian frigate landed in the Demerara River. I stood at the goods wharf aback Stabroek Market with my camera to capture the frigate.

All those pics were in the bundle I left with my friend.

I'm sure you would appreciate the high material and emotional cost we pay when we leave our homeland to live in a strange land.

Bookman I now remember you there at the Non-Aligned Monument.  I remember you walking up to the edge with the camera.  I think there were two other guys there not far from you.  They were also in the PPP.  There was a crowd of people there also standing around on the street paths surrounding the Monument area.  Burnham was sitting next to Castro in a car that came up to the Monument area.  You were a young man in those days.

...no shit! hehehe

cain

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