Most days, with the exception of only birth- and paydays, I'm fairly content being myself (and even the birthdays compensate for being a whole year closer to my future absence with presents). Every now and then, though, somebody does something I notice, and I wonder if I'd be happier (or at least less miserable) being him or her. (I'm happy to be female, once I don't have to fake an attraction to males, and once I don't have to be a Muslim woman, apart from Malala Yousafzai). Here is the list I considered this week:
Kamla Persad-Bissessar
Advantages:
�2 Can avoid every professional and personal obligation, from resigning over Section 34 to protecting own sister from being viewed as a locho jetsetter, and still wag her finger at everyone else for not living up to theirs
�2 Assured of a damned fine salary until death, no matter how bad or good a job she's done as PM
�2 Has lost her party three elections in a row, but hasn't faced a UNC leadership election
�2 Almost certain to have a comfortable retirement very soon
Disadvantages:
�2 Has to face the imminent Jack-Lash
�2 Can at this stage do nothing right in the eyes of the neemakaram electorate/Cabinet/party financiers
�2 Bound to feel crushed when fair-weather friends desert her the moment she loses influence (but this does segue into the advantage of finding out who your real friends are)
Lou Reed
Advantages:
�2 Changed the pop music of his time
�2 Made talk-singing a style for rock 'n' roll, like Johnny Cash for C&W
�2 Wrote Walk on the Wild Side, most audacious Top Ten song ever, and Sweet Jane, perhaps best guitar riff
�2 Wasn't the ugliest Velvet Undergrounder, as long as manager Andy Warhol lived
�2 Lived to 71, far longer than his excessive youth should have permitted
Disadvantages:
�2 Died at 71, far younger than his middle-aged moderation might have allowed
�2 Not being the ugliest Velvet Undergrounder didn't make him pretty
�2 Settled down with a transvestite, instantly turning Walk on the Wild Side into Stroll into Boring Marriage
http://www.guardian.co.tt/digital/new-members
for your Free Trial of the Digital Guardian.
No payment details required, for your Free Trial.