The Editor
The Anguillian
Watch Your Words
In School we are taught to read on the line, between the line and beyond the line. That also applies to listening. Sometimes one chooses a catchy phrase or catch word to write about in a newspaper in an effort to draw the reader to go on and read the contents. I would like to refer to one such topic in the last issue of The Anguillian, dated 1st February 2013 Vol 15 No. 09, which reads “Shop Steward or Scab!”
Placing the article under the microscope, it was noted that phrase “Shop Steward” was defined and the related job description made clear in six (6) different points. A person then who carries out this job description can be regarded as a “good” shop steward. What then is the opposite of a (good) shop steward? Is it a scab? What is a “Scab” since the word was not defined in the article?
Looking at the words more carefully, the phrase “shop steward” connotes a good meaning and produces a positive feeling. The word “scab” has a negative flare. Longman’s Active Study Dictionary of English defines a scab as:
1. A hard mass of dried blood which forms over a cut or wound.
2. A person who works in a place where other people are refusing to work because of a strike.
3. A word used to express disapproval.
Which one can we apply to the question/statement in the article?
Another definition of the word scab may have been instilled in me as a young person growing up hearing the old folks refer to a bad person as “the scab of the earth”. A scab is something that we usually want to get rid of.
Let us analyse the topic “Shop Steward or Scab” as it relates to the said article in an effort for fairness in the statements and positions that I seek to communicate.
Firstly, all the words of importance in the topic should have been defined. Any good debater or presenter of a topic would endeavour to define all important words of the topic for argument sake so as to establish a common ground of understanding. The word scab as read in the topic gives a negative feeling to the meaning as might also be the purpose of the article. Nothing positive or good was written to describe a scab.
In the article, many references were made as to what was said and done by one person. The politics surrounding the same was portrayed very negatively. Must one seriously investigate whether “he” was a “shop steward” or a “scab”! Oops! Was that exclamation mark supposed to be a question mark? Who or what is the word “scab” here referring to? The actions or the person?
Many hurtful words have been said on both sides of the political divide. Yes, everyone says and does things that are not good. Who can throw the first stone – or are we throwing stones and hiding our hands and saying “not me, I am not guilty.” Are we turning the other cheek or are we retaliating? In the article, the word “Scab” surely was not meant to be a good word or was used to evoke a good feeling in the reader. Are we going to continue throwing words back and forth like missiles? “Watch your words.”
In all honesty, have we exhausted the word “scab” to its fullest potential meaning? Let us look at the word in its medical premise in an effort to show another view of the word, and in an effort to evoke a more positive response or feeling in the mind of the reader. Sure, a scab may look ugly and distasteful on the skin. The natural response to a scab on the skin is to try to get rid of it, but what is the purpose of a scab to the skin?
Having established before what is a scab, I wish to refresh your mind that a scab is a dried clot of blood on a wound. Let us therefore take a good look at the purpose of a scab in this scenario:
1. A scab on a wound stops the bleeding. Without it, one would bleed to death.
2. A scab acts as a protection for the wound until it heals and from other bruises and germs.
If a scab is removed before its time, the wound will not heal. It continues to get hurt. It will remain open and get worse to the destruction of the body. It drops off when the wound is completely healed.
Having established what is a scab and the purpose of a scab, can we now refer to the “Shop Steward or Scab”? To be fair to the argument in presentation, can we consider that “he” (the Chief Minister) is such a scab and that Anguilla is the wound?
Questions are:
1. Is Anguilla bleeding and hurting? Can we answer yes?
2. Does a scab of itself cause the bleeding and hurting? No! It helps to protect and hinder more bleeding and hurting.
3. Can others irritate the wound? Yes! By trying to remove the scab and by intercepting the healing action by getting between.
A scab covers the wound and protects it until it is well enough to survive without it. Is anyone trying to be this kind of scab to Anguilla?
Anguilla is hurting from the negative comments and words on both sides. Where is the “Respect” for each other? The many writers and nightly talk shows are only adding more hurt to the wound. Words can cut like a two-edged sword in the negative. Proverbs Chapter 15 is a good chapter for all to read. Verse 1 says that “Grievous words stir up anger.” Anguilla is split in half because of the spoken and written word.
The negative is swallowing us up like a tiny drawing on a huge white page. Why not use up the page by bringing out more positive? Show the bigger picture. Do we in our words try to build up each other, or do we try to tear down each other in the name of politics? Is this to make one look bad and you yourself to look good? Politics is selfish. Me, Me, Me, I, I, I. “Broken promises”. It can carry one to hell on a bed of pride. We have seen that words can cause one to lose being elected by what is said before the election to gain the vote, and after the election to regain the vote. In Anguilla we seem to enjoy throwing around words and instead of helping our nation it is hurting it. Anguilla is sick and wounded and in need of a “scab” to help it to heal. Who will be this kind of scab to help Anguilla heal? Will it be the AUM or the AUF or ALL of us? Yes, ALL of us.
“In all honesty,” and in the “fairness in statements and positions that I seek to communicate” and by painting a picture of both sides of the argument, can we conclude that all of us need to be “a (good) Shop Steward and a (healing) Scab” for Anguilla? I would like to say to all of us, “Watch your words”.
– Louise Brooks
(Editor’s note: “Scab” was defined in the article to which the writer of this letter is referring.)
