A man’s word is given. It is not to be taken lightly. Whether a CEO, or a junior clerk who has hasn’t lost control of his or her head, a word given is a word to be held sacred. Why is it that something as basic, as inviolable, as that is a matter of frivolity in this country, of no consequence? By what standards, does a principle as important to ordinary interactions and the sometimes-exceptional commerce of daily interfaces, such as a man’s word given, is ignored, laughed at by the person responsible for that precious word, then discarded? With more than casual dismissal and, as is now the case in Guyana, not-so-concealed contempt?
I still get the sense that I’m not quite on the right track. What kind of man gives his word, with solemn face and hand over heart, then pees on that word? A man worthy of admiration, or one unworthy of mention? To do business with such a citizen has to be the ambition and compulsion of the brave, or the reckless. Maybe even the mindless, to whom such essences of life as speaking to truth and standing for a position taken, for what is right, doesn’t matter. To twist the knife, there is the other side of word given: those who take it as cementing a special connection, a noble relationship, then depend on it. Put their all into it, that word said. I now proceed to strike at the center of the nail.
When any two citizens, or groups of citizens, enter into a contract, spoken or written, neither of the two looks on the other, as though he or she is dealing with a conman, is being setup to be the victim of a calculated con. I don’t. So why should any other Guyanese be subjected to that tortuous fate, that proposition in which there is only one loser? Always, there is only one loser. It is the one that is less stronger, much slower, more prone to the tricks of the exploiter. Often brazen, less often subtler. There is difficulty determining how business of any kind can be done in such circumstances. For when any two citizens start out on what is believed to be a legitimate enterprise, principled bonding, distrust doesn’t creep into the consciousness, and nags at the ear. No amount of binding legal protection gives the type of protection that leads one party to put his head on his pillow and sleep like a baby. No fear, no care.
It is what happens routinely in all realms when dealing with the man or woman across the table. If not, then why take the chance, render oneself vulnerable, by entering the same room with them? It is as simple, and as serious, as that, and of that let there never be any doubt. Who cares about lawyers then (a necessary evil)? Or, recourse to the courts (a costly situation)? Money can be awarded, recovered. But what about time lost? And that irreplaceable component of human existence that is trust shattered on the rocks of deception? I personalize and individualize this: would you be confident to go into battle, when all is on the line, with such a squaddie at the side, in the same foxhole? I wouldn’t.
If a woman or a man doesn’t give a damn about personal honor, personal self-respect, then what do they have left, what going for them? A screaming kettle announcing to the world how much on the job they are, how trustworthy they are? Oh, and how great they are. When a word given is held with all the esteem of a word to be smashed, trampled upon, then it is only a matter of time for the next step in that progression. The human recipients of that word given to be themselves trampled upon without so much as a nanosecond’s pause, a second thought. There is the destroyer of all that is clean and bright and true. On the other side of that formula (not an equation), there are those destroyed. An equation usually balances, a formula doesn’t have to, not when the rules of engagement are first extolled, then mocked and mistreated.
There are only those pieces left to be picked up in the aftermath of the passage of a schemer, when a con job is consummated. Shards of hope to be retrieved. Priceless trust to be rebuilt, one agonizing step at a time. Don’t give up. Just have to go on. Been there, done that; so this is neither theory nor philosophy. Wounded Guyanese have a long, uphill road ahead of them.
