Sidney Sweeting, DDS (http://www.weblogbahamas.com)
A friend of mine is manager of a store in one of the family islands and I asked him what time his staff get to work and his reply was "when the spirit moves them."
Unfortunately, there is a lot of truth in what he said as a joke. My wife had to have a medical procedure on Thursday morning and she was not allowed to eat prior so we stopped at a food store to pick up some ensure. It was 7:15am and there was only one cashier on duty. I asked where the others were and she said "they ain't reach yet" so I asked what time they were supposed to start and she said 7:00am.
The procedure had to be done at the PMH and even though the deposit had been paid I had to go to the business office to pick up "the front sheet". Just a taste of Government health care. The small room was full and there was only one cashier on duty. Someone asked why the second cashier was not on duty and I reminded them that the Punch comes out on Thursday, or perhaps she had not had breakfast yet or talked to her "sweetie". She finally graced us with her presence about twenty minutes later.
I rushed back expecting to find the nurses anxiously awaiting the important "front sheet". I was wrong. There were two other patients waiting for the same procedure and nothing was done until I went and requested that they be given some attention (another taste of Government health care).
While waiting in the business office a gentleman told me that he would be standing in another line later to collect some medication for his wife, which he has to do every month and the waiting time is about three hours. I saw him again about three hours later and he told me that it was taking a little longer that morning because there was only one cashier on duty (I presume the second one is a slow reader or maybe she reads the Tribune also or she has two or three "sweeties").
On the plus side the treatment by the private doctor was first class, as expected, and the nurses were very efficient.
So, with so many Bahamians moving only when"the spirit moves them" and so many people unemployed why do the employers (including Government) tolerate it?
