Bajans Will Talk

In the past few weeks the following criminal acts were reported in the Nation Newspaper of Barbados, the names have been changed to kind of protect the innocent.  You’ll understand better after you have read this post “Bajans Will Talk.”

Richard G. entered  Popular Grocery Store and was caught with a block of cheese in the crotch of his pants. He was unable to show a receipt and the cheese was retrieved.

A mother who stole items including a $154 pen to give her daughter as a 21st birthday gift, will miss out on the celebration later this month. Juliette N. had to surrender her passport cancelling her plans to travel.

A man was caught red-handed riding a stolen bicycle and had to pay a court fee of $350. The same man, Nigel B., was also caught with cocaine.

Another man, Winston L. was once convicted of stealing gas bottles and yesterday he added a gas stove to his long list of of thefts.

The one thing that each of these criminal acts had in common was when caught, the perpetrators all pled guilty and openly admitted to their crime both to the police and to the Magistrate Douglas Fredrick. Yes, Judge Fredrick first name is Douglas.

In the US, when you are caught committing a crime, the most important thing to know is not to say anything that may incriminate you. In fact, the police will tell you the same thing when they give you a Miranda warning.

Bajans have been talking (sometimes to their detriment) going back to the old days when the local gossip was discussed at the standpipe as people were waiting in line for water.  All the village gossip,  news, love affairs and feuds were all discussed at the standpipe. Also, stories were swapped at the local rum shop after the men had a few shots of rum.

As you know, Bajans have a colorful way of saying things. An old Bajan proverb is “You got too much of what the cat licked his tail with.”* Just as news spread around the standpipe, it spreads around the district which I believe helps the police in their investigations.

A prime example was just today, a person stole some jewelry from a woman and caught the local Zed-R van as his escape vehicle. Some people saw what happened and flagged down a policeman and then reported that the thief was on the bus. The man was arrested on the spot.

The Nation Newspaper reported murders were down in 2016 to 21 deaths (even one murder is too many). But due to the diligence of the police investigators, it is also reported that 18 of the 21 or 85% of the murders from last year have already been solved. Even though the police are very thorough in their investigations, one thing that you can count on is that Bajans will talk.

*The proverb means, You talk to much