Won't Complain

The materially poor people...on the river I grew up on in Guyana...when asked how they
were doing...gave a variety of answers. One of them was..."fifty-fifty". My interpretation of that is that it meant..."my life is fifty per cent good and fifty
percent bad...and there's nothing more to be said about it". An old lady...on being
asked this greeting question...replied..."kitty katta"...refering to the the sound
the hooves of an old mule made...as it ambled along on hard ground. The answer I like
best...and may have even written about before on my Blog...was two short words in the
Guyana dialect..."me deh"...meaning..."I am here"...sometimes...perhaps...with an
unspoken rebuke...i.e. " can't you see I am still here?". Not as inventive...or poetic
...as the previous three answers...was the simple one...that perhaps told even more about the courage and grace of the river people...it was...simp;y..."can't complaint". Sometimes I think...it would have been more accurate...
had they said..."won't complain"...given that these people...in the living out of
their difficult days...would have actually had...a lot of reasons to complain...had
they chosen to go that route...but they understood...that they had to suck it up...
and keep moving forward...and how being perceived as a chronic
complainer...can drive other human beings...away from you. So...this morning...I
remember these people of my river childhood...and say...like they used to do...as I
send this message out into the world..."can't complain".............Quester.