#BTSpeakingOut – I love Barbados: a wonderful place

The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by Rollins Howard

I love Barbados. With the exception of a few days overseas on holiday or on work assignments I have spent my entire life on this island and that may be the reason why I do not find the fascination of some of my countrymen with the trappings of the metropolitan countries so appealing.

My homeland is a most wonderful and marvellous place in which to live (but then I may have a biased opinion) and therefore it pains me when I hear or read some of the disparaging things which some Bajans say about it.

I would love to believe that Barbados is a perfect gem but, alas, I know that this is not so and it does have its faults, and I ask “which country on this planet does not have its faults?” I have heard talk of “two Barbadoses, race problems, class issues, poor customer service, the haves and the have nots, political corruption” but pray tell me which country does not have its own share of these? Do these not exist in England, the United States, France, Russia, Germany, not one is exempt from them.

When I hear such comments, I wonder if these people live in the same Barbados as I do. If their comments reflect what really obtains in Barbados why does the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (or whatever is the current iteration of the Barbados Tourist Board) not use them when promoting the island?

On my visits overseas I have left establishments because of poor customer service; I have seen individuals treated as though they were less than human; I have seen heights and terraces, and I was not in Barbados. Why do we think that these things only happen in Barbados? I am not saying that they are right, and we should try to correct them, but do not crucify the land of our birth.

Many Bajans living overseas do not return because they cannot afford to.

Oftentimes when you go to visit them, they meet you in a mall or some public place because they do not dare take you home to the appalling conditions under which they live, despite holding down at least two jobs.