by Sidney Sweeting, DDS
My wife and I recently enjoyed a five day visit to Bermuda. Unfortunately, our enjoyment was tempered by our continuous comparison to Nassau.
It began when we were in the customs line at the airport and we heard the announcement telling us which carousel our bags would be on - what a quaint idea! On the ride in from the airport we became aware that vehicles actually stopped at traffic lights when they are signalling red -wow!
Imagine our surprise when we walked down the main street the next day and saw no garbage - none. We decided to cross the street and as we turned all the traffic stopped - because we were at a crosswalk - another novel idea!
When we were ready to return to our hotel, someone kindly told us which bus to take but neither of us had a cutlass with us and we were not in the mood for loud music. We bravely decided to take our chances. What a pleasant experience. It was a quiet ride, driven within the speed limit and it actually stopped only at designated, sheltered bus stops. What really took our breath away was when we realized that we had not seen one illegally parked vehicle.
By the third day we were aware that we had not seen any rusty, abandoned cars on the side of the roads, sitting on blocks with the wheels off, nor had we seen any old boats in the harbour with signs on them "these boats must be moved by September, 2003".
On the early morning ride back to the airport I asked the driver about the number of people who were wearing fluorescent vests while on their morning walk, and he said that it was the law. He further stated that all the laws are strictly enforced.
So, that's the answer! Now why hasn't the Bahamas thought of that?