By:Curtis Morton
The way I see it, we really have to be extremely careful in all of our dealings, on a daily basis.
On Wednesday of this week, I had occasion to go to the Post office to collect a package, as suggested by one of those yellow slips of paper, that I found in my mail box.
Among the usual bills, I also noted another yellow slip of paper, belonging to one of my brothers.
Well, there was already a correspondence in place which gave me the privilege of collecting his mails, which was allowed by the good folks at the Post office.
Having collected my package, I proceeded to ask about collecting the package for my brother. The Post Office official charged me $5.00 for Post office handling fees or something like that and then asked me to clear the package at Customs.
You know there is a customs section in the Post office now, right?
Well I went over to the Customs section and duly waited my turn.
Getting the green light to come in, I explained to the Officer that I was collecting the package on behalf of my brother.
She brought the package; held it in her right hand and looked me straight in the eye and asked: ‘Do you know what is in this package?’
I said: ‘No.’
She then told me in a clear firm voice: “You can open it so that I can check it but as much as we get along, when you open it and anything illegal is found in it, you will see how fast I will slap hand cuffs on your wrists!’
Well I newa!
I froze. I seriously thought about opening the package, because I really trust my brother but then I hesitated.
Suppose some crook or other had gotten access to the package enroute and placed something illegal in it…..?
“Okay, I will tell him to come and clear it,’ I said.
When I told my brother about the incident, he was more than a little annoyed.
‘Curtis, you expect me to have dealings with anything illegal?’
I felt a little guilty for not bringing the package after all.
Some months ago, someone told me of an incident that transpired at the Charlestown pier. He was going to St.Kitts and as he boarded the boat, a friend of his came rushing onto the pier, seemingly out of breath and in a hurry.
He asked him to please take a package, which by the way, was sealed, to St.Kitts for him. Someone would be on the pier to collect it. He also gave a description of the individual.
The person told him okay, he would do it but asked him to open the package before he took it.
The guy became irritable and shouted: ‘Bwoy we are friends. You can trust me!’
The individual insisted that he must open it. You know the guy stormed off with his package shouting expletives and muttering something about people not trusting friends?
Folks, it is better to be safe than sorry. And forget about TRUST. If you are truly my friend, what is the big deal in opening the package so that I can see what I am supposed to be carrying?
We must not let anyone hurry us into taking any unknown packages. We have got to be extremely careful. It is better to lose a ‘friend’ than to be incarcerated for carrying illegal substances that you were not even aware of, because when you are caught red handed with the stuff, the one who gave it to you, may more than likely deny that he even knew you.
That’s the way I see it. How do you see it?