We as a people have not been able to differentiate holy days from holidays(R they 1 & the same?). It is true that ours has been a predominantly Roman Catholic society & because of that our daily lives have been influenced by the adoption of its observances which has become enshrined in every fabric of our modern society. There is nothing really wrong with that however, we have reached a crucial crossroads that demands some critical analysis in the way we have been accustomed to doing things in order that we can chart a forward & modern development plan. I will stick my head on a block to say that you can asked about 95% of the population(even Catholics) what holy/holiday today is or what’s its significance and they would not know. It’s just another holiday!! & boy you can’t interfere with Lucians holidays. Ours have again predominantly been an employee’s society due to the fact that few St. Lucian own any business. So it has always been a very hostile environment of employee verses employer. Most employee does not really care how or if his/her boss is making a profit on the investment at the end of the day, the only concern is receiving a wage at the end of the work/pay period. We are presently going through a very adverse economic situation which necessitates austeric measures being implemented to save us from inevitably going down the IMF road. One of the solutions proposed by our government is a wage cut from Civil Servants. What puzzles me is the fact that we are not prepared to do anything that will temporarily put us in a discomforting position to achieve any long term goals. Hasn’t our governments realized that there are too many holy days observed as holidays. These holidays are costing the country millions of dollars with no returns. Here’s a suggestion keep all these holidays but no work, no pay. How can it be fair to ask an employer who is let’s say a non-Catholic to pay an employee for not working today (cashew nuts roasting day) or if you work then you must be paid time & a ½ of double time for regular work. If you need a holiday to go roast your nuts by all means but don’t legislate that the employer must pay. Government as the biggest employer in the country should be the one most concerned about correcting this abnormally. Already “most” civil servants work what I call tolerated hours (they just clock in) that must be paid for by the state. We have a holiday for holidays, now isn’t that crazy stuff. Let’s do the maths on how much it cost to pay so many people for doing nothing. May be we’re so accustomed of that way of life that this situation can’t be change. I called home this morning & was surprised to be told it was a holiday (holy day?) Which one it was no one cared or knew, so I did some checking and found out it was Corpus Christi, so Happy Cashew Nuts Roasting Saint Lucia.
Posted on: Thu, 19 Jun 2014 17:10:56 +0000
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