By Johnny Coomansingh
In many towns in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) there are markets (green groceries) of some form where properly tied up blue land crabs (Callinectes sapidus) are sold. A consumer of the fare would purchase these crabs mainly on Saturdays and Sundays. For many Trinis, the traditional Sunday lunch without the national dish of T&T, ‘Crab and Callaloo,’ would be incomplete. Off and on, strings of tied-up blue crabs are seen during ordinary weekdays being sold on the roadside in places such as Manzanilla, Mayaro, Cumana, Toco, Sangre Grande, and even in the boroughs of Arima and Chaguanas.
Blue crab, especially those with the big ‘gundy’ (claws), is a delicacy for many people in T&T. Several culinary preparations are concocted from this much sought-after crustacean. Crab and Callaloo is also known as ‘Iron Back.’ ‘Curry Crab and Dumpling’ cooked with coconut milk is another common dish at many river and beach limes. This mouth-watering dish could be bought at the Store Bay restaurants in Tobago. There is also the more sophisticated stuffed ‘Crab Back’ where the meat of the crab is seasoned, stuffed and cooked (grilled or baked) in the crab backs. Of course, there are also ‘Crab Cakes’ that many savour.
Although the blue crab in T&T is for many the best thing after sliced bread, there are some people who are very allergic to crab and other shellfish. On this note, I want to return to the tied up market crab. Actually, this tied-up market crab that stays stationary in the basket is what this article seeks to amplify. There is a saying in T&T that some people are “tied up like ah market crab.” What does such a saying mean? It means that there are people in the T&T and the world in general who are not subject to change. Although change is the only constant, they prefer to remain mentally immobile like a market crab, chained up, bound, shackled and manacled, preferring to ‘die with their boots on’ rather than shift gears, especially at election time. Some time ago, my friend Errol Fabien was hired to be the emcee of a calypso show. He refused to accede to the request of his employer to refrain from ‘political jokes’ against the Peoples National Movement (PNM). Here’s his commentary:
“Well as I live and breathe. A promoter who engaged me to host a calypso show weekend gone, said to me “No anti PNM jokes eh” Yuh hear what I saying…The man was as serious as a heart attack. I refuse to name the promoter because I consider him a friend and the issue is not him. The issue is that it is okay for him to dare to say what he said. He is embolden by the little people in this administration who will withhold his hand-out if they come to the show and feel offended…and whilst it is his money he is spending and he has the right to demand what he is paying for, why call me? I am who I am. I have hosted Calypso shows since 1985…I have hosted them throughout the English speaking world. A calypso show is where, between the calypsonians and the emcee, we deal with all societal goings on, if it becomes a pro-PNM charade then it is not of the people. It is of the few. Calypso is of the people. I need the work, but I need my manhood more. I did not do the show.”
In light of his statements, Errol Fabien stood his ground and was certainly not tied up like a market crab. It has been said that the one who pays the piper is the one who calls the tune, but sometimes we have to reject the one-sided piper and his tunes. The ‘market crab syndrome’ is rampant in the society of T&T; many in the society need to be untied from the ‘ropes’ that are strangling them; financial debt being one of the bigger ropes. It is highly apparent that some prefer instant gratification instead of future gratification, as the ol’ people would say, “hanging their hats where they cannot reach.”
Sometimes the ‘big boys,’ the ‘one percent’ and the jefes want the plebeians, the ‘little people,’ to keep quiet, to walk blindly, to be unobservant, to ignore the system. These of the ‘high and mighty’ live in ivory towers, eat caviar and drink champagne, while the proletariat struggle to get a morsel, the crumbs, that may sometimes fall from their tables. A certain prime minister of T&T once said that “…the rich must get richer.” He was probably entertaining the thought that some of the riches of the rich would trickle down to the poor. In my studies in economics, I have determined that ‘trickle-down economics’ never worked and will never work to elevate the working class. Nonetheless, I must give to Errol Fabien a great and lasting round of applause for standing his ground. His belief is exemplary.
Many moons ago, when I was attending high school, the principal selected me, out of all the hundreds of students, to represent the school on an inspection visit by some members of the Ministry of Education. I went along with them, and they asked me what I thought of the school. I preferred to show them. I said, “…shhhh the babies are sleeping.” Male custodians and grounds-men were sleeping in the boys’ locker rooms, while the toilet (lavatories) were dirty with flooded floors, and the drains outside the science building were never cleaned since I started school. I made sure that the ‘commission of inquiry’ saw what they needed to see. Also, there wasn’t any toilet paper to be found anywhere for use by students. Apparently, the toilet paper and other supplies were misappropriated. Who knows about the disappearance of such items? Have things changed since I left?
After the exercise, the principal was ‘furious as a wooden judge in a ram goat session’ (a line my deceased mother would sometimes use). He was literally going crazy about the report and threatened to flog me. I only spoke the truth and showed clearly what we as students were up against. My education at primary school and at church told me to stand my ground no matter the consequences; stand for the right, though the heavens fall.
I wasn’t any tied up market crab. I remembered not to sugarcoat anything. The story of the three Hebrew boys and the fiery furnace was uppermost in my mind. How could I ever forget the reply that they gave to King Nebuchadnezzar? “O king we are not careful to answer you in this matter.” Despite his fury, the principal and I became best of friends. He even donated to me some of his biology books and told me to take the class when he could not show up. In other words, I have my life to live and you have yours; your life, your ways, and your idiosyncrasies. I will not make them mine.
At graduate school, while reading for a course in Small Group Management, one of my professors mentioned: “Wherever you are, be there.” In other words, we must learn to adjust, adapt and adopt. Do we tend to follow the adage: ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do?’ However, we would do well to remember that “All that glitters is not gold.” Should we follow the crowd? In the Holy Bible, counsel is given that we should not follow a multitude to do evil. It’s all about Mindset. Sometimes in our drive to succeed, we are confronted with setbacks, but I learnt that a ‘Setback is a Setup for a Comeback.’ A person trapped in a snare is not allowed to exercise of freedom. There are those in society that apply a four-step approach in the absolute control of others: Use, Abuse, Confuse and finally Refuse.
Somewhere and somehow our survival requires reckoning with those who seek with their verbiage to tie us up; to keep us in ‘the house of bondage.’ As the Word says, we must be “…wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove.” We must not accept mamaguy (the use of flattery, sweet talk, or compliments to manipulate or deceive someone…to make them feel foolish).
We must rise up each day to think. We must know the art of untying ourselves from those whose plan it is to stymy development and progress. We must be ever cognizant that ‘snakes’ will never tell the truth, and a snake changes its skin because it’s getting bigger. A rubber band can only stretch so much until it pops. I have been given caution to ‘watch and pray’ so I pray with my eyes wide open. In the face of all the struggles, wars, rumours of war, and cataclysms, anthropogenic and otherwise, will we remain with the market crab syndrome and stay mangled in our ignorance?
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