Perspectives
On this day in 2022, I envisioned a lady with a newspaper on her lap. The newspaper was dated Sunday 31st December 2028. There she was, a member of the Central Bank Retirees Club [CBRC; the Club] sitting on her porch in the waning evening light engaged in an enduring human custom of reflecting on the past, in this instance, 365 days.
Looking back on a particular day, she remembered it as being an exceptionally dank and dismal day. That remembered day was Tuesday 12th September 2028. The twenty-fifth anniversary of the Central Bank Retirees Club. In her contemplations she considered the lot of herself and her former colleagues. In 2028, persons who struggled to get by in 2022 were barely existing. Those who felt that their lot was 'not so bad' in 2022, were now fighting for survival. The years between 2023 and 2028 witnessed the membership increasing detachment from the affairs of the Club. Reasons for their posture often included a reference to the club's Executive.
Volunteerism and Obligations
She still held the view that the club's Executive members, past and present, deserves appreciation for their voluntary service. She is very aware that the Board members spend hours managing the club's affairs, giving up their personal time and even leaving their homes to get things done, often with minimal or no support. Their efforts make it possible to offer socialization and learning opportunities for fellow retirees.
If the CBRC is to succeed and thrive, every member, perhaps with one exception, must step up. Instead of creating divisions, members have an ethical duty to support, encourage, and actively help the Executive. At the very least a sincere 'thank you for your service' should be offered to every person who has served on the board.
Self-inflected
With a grimace she remembered a conversation in which someone said "We should have this! and 'dey' should do this, that and the other!" The response to that set of 'shoulds' was the query - "How do you know that efforts are not or have not been made to get and do those things? Tell meh!" To which the person whispered "I ain't have documents or anything but ..." The person who raised the query said "what! you eh have no proof, no evidence? Look! Ah fella named Christopher Hitchens said 'that which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence so I dismissing you"'. With ah "'alright!' 'alright!' but dey doh communicate"' the efforts of the Club's executive boards towards ensuring the long-term success and survival of the Club were grudgingly acknowledged. Sadly, this acknowledgement could not change the fact that during the years prior to 2028, the membership watched and remained 'disengaged' as the club lumbered towards irrelevance. So, on that Tuesday, the wretched and bewildered members of the Club gathered. Well, well well, look wey we reach! Look wey we reach!
The Brighter Past
The Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago Retirees Club hosted its 25th Anniversary celebratory function on Tuesday 12th September 2028. Some of the present and past management of the bank attended. One of the speakers in the event said that the CBRC had its genesis in the 2001-2 meetings of seven (7) former members of CBTT staff. Guided by that group, the club was formally established on Friday 12th September 2003, at its first Annual General Meeting (AGM).
Another speaker said that the Clubs' mandate of 2003 to promote activities aimed at enhancing the cultural, social, educational, spiritual and economic well-being of CBRC members remained unchanged in 2028.
All Dressed Up
While their stomachs rumbled, the members around the buffet tables grumbled about the clubs' failures in promoting their social and economic well-being. Seemingly unaffected by those mutterings, more likely oblivious, the third speaker highlighted the achievements of the Club during its first 25 years. Statistics on membership levels were quoted. Some of the past presidents' names were mentioned. It was stated that guided by those presidents, the club:-
Conducted an outreach programme.
Organized and hosted cultural/social programmes.
Hosted educational seminars.
Negotiated a formal Memorandum of Understanding.
Established the Retirees Support Fund.
Launched Vintage Quarterly.
Obtained the use the Bank’s gymnasium facilities.
Obtained from the bank a fully operational Administrative Office.
Hosted a thanksgiving function to honour its founding members.
Hosted an annual lundin (?) (meal between lunch and diner).
Negotiated an increase in pension payments along with back-pay.
Uttered without a sense of pride. Uttered without a sense of ownership, those milestones sounded as just impassively spoken words, said someone in the audience.
The Sky Darkens
Without their names being spoken, 'the founders' and 'the members of the past Boards' were thanked for their vision, foresight, dedication and hard work. Without their names being spoken, 'others' were thanked for their contributions to the growth and development of the Club.
On reflection, the desire for a variant of paternalism seemed evident in the contrastingly purring manner that the names of the Bank's current and former heads were uttered. The speaker who gave the closing remarks, especially and glowingly thanked the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago for its invaluable support, both material and moral, over the past years.
All this while the fragmented membership huddled in their abiding cliques contemplating whether the event was a "Cause for celebration" or a "Cause célèbre." As the membership trundled out of the building they were all still bewildered and wretched. Some, in addition to being bewildered and wretched, were emotionally weakened, having had their already low levels of energy further drained by the speakers and a few of their fellow attendees. 2028, please make a liar of me.