25 YEARS AGO ON AMBERGRIS CAYE   BY ANGEL NUÑEZ

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No Complainers Twenty Five Years Ago

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Twenty five years ago, most families had pigs being raised in a pen in their backyards. Oh yes, they stank. Oh yes, they got muddy and unsightly. But nobody complained. One man might have said, "My pig is cleaner and does not smell as bad as my neighbors, but no complaints for we all needed the meat, the chicharon, the fat or oil, the morcia, the higadia, the head, the feet, the tail and even the stomach for the various dishes."

Twenty five years ago you chopped the weeds in your yard, gathered the dried coconut palms and piled up some leaves and garbage in the middle of the yard. What to do with it? There was no truck to pick it up. People lit a fire and burnt it all. Any disturbing smoke? You bet, but people got used to it and everybody did it and nobody complained. Besides if it was not smoke from the leaves, it was from the fire hearth where something good was cooking.

Twenty five years ago, everyone raised chickens and cockerels in their yard. At 3 to 4 in the morning, the roosters would start crowing and walking up the neighborhood Anybody complained? No, because everyone had them and besides they welcomed the roosters' wake up calls to begin preparations for the daily chores.

Twenty five years ago people had the habit of bleaching their laundry by laying it on a patch of grass in the yard or even the street. Occasionally, dogs or children stepped over the laundry. Any complaints? No, because it happened to everybody and it was their choice or mistake to place it on the street.

Twenty five years ago the fisherman placed hundreds of fishes over the fences and other structures to sundry. Did the fish stink? Of course, but nobody complained of the stench nor the flies because everyone else did so too. This fish was a source of food and source of income, so it was accepted as necessary.

Twenty five years ago the teachers whipped any child who misbehaved very badly or was rude at school. Any parent complained? No, instead some parents sent a small gift to the teacher. Uncles and aunts and close relatives whipped children right on the street for rude behavior. Any mom or dad got angry? Not at all; it was seen as part of their filial duties. there was no 24 hour electricity. Nobody complained or even missed it. There was no mosquito fogger. Who cared? There was no television. Big deal. No garbage truck, no water truck, nobody raking the streets nor the beaches. Who cared? Who complained? Nobody, life continued And people found their own way of doing things, Today we complain too much because we have been pampered. Now, you all agree, life was much better in many respects 25 years ago.

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