Lysandra! What, Lysandra?

Lysandra, Lord!

What, out of hearing?
Gone?

No sound, no word?

— Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Gone just like that, in a puff of smoke, disappeared like the wind, existing no more. Such is the fate of many who have been eliminated. That guy in the quote above has been removed, basically eliminated from the scene, discarded, no longer needed or wanted, made redundant from whatever circle he belonged to. But life moves on.

After a while we all suffer the same fate and are eliminated, for no one, no matter how important he or she may be, will outlive his or her usefulness, and will no longer be relevant, but eliminated.

It does seem a bit fatalistic, perhaps grim, and smacks of a dismal and dour end, but that’s the reality of life that everyone has to face. Some people will try to postpone the inevitable and cling to their relevance for as long as they can, but that’s an exercise in futility, for as long as night follows day, as certain as the Sun sets in the evening, they will be eliminated from whatever circle of life they belong to. They will be spoken of less and less until they are almost completely forgotten, except by a few loved ones, who after a while will also erase them from their memory.

The term process of elimination usually refers to a situation in which there are a number of items or people, assembled or suspected of some act, and in order to locate the culprit, the others are eliminated one by one. So if there are five men who are known fowl thieves and some fowls were stolen, the culprit will be pointed out by eliminating the other four who all had alibis. One wasn’t in the area, the other was in church, the third was sick in bed, the fourth was in lock-up, leaving the last one who was seen in the vicinity of the fowl coop on the night of the robbery. So by process of elimination, the guilty was nabbed.

In that case, the majority was eliminated leaving the guilty one standing alone. But in this article, the process of elimination has you eliminated, leaving the rest of the world not only standing, but rolling right along.

That’s where we’ll delve today, the process of elimination, right after these responses to what I had to say about ‘Melissa mayhem’.

Tony,

Such a gripping and comprehensive description of Hurricane Melissa. I’m still in a daze. I’ve never seen this side of you before. I’m sure I wasn’t watching a movie. Your article on Melissa was a pedagogical one and should be archived. You have said it all, and I want to echo you by saying thanks and a lot of appreciation for the international assistance, and I share the sorrow of all our loved ones who were affected, directly or indirectly.

Paulette

Teerob,

A brilliant, intriguing, moving, and poignant description of Melissa’s approach and effect on the island. You managed to capture the geographical phenomenon as well as the human empathy that came with those violent winds. You really gave an insight into what might have been going through the minds of many as the hurricane unleashed its fury on us. For those who were spared the full brunt, give thanks; for those who were impacted badly, prayers. But we were all affected. Thank you.

Anton

Okay, nothing lasts forever, although some people seem to think that they will be around until the end of time. Well, ‘nutten nuh guh suh’, for everything and everyone has an expiry date and will be eliminated after a while.

I remember while working at
Jamaica Information Service Television, when the CEO at the time, Mr Hartley Neita, gave me an abject lesson in the temporary existence of man and how nothing is left or remembered after we are all gone. It was simple, and yet profound.

He said, “Place your hand in a bucket of water and see how it takes up space. Now remove your hand and see what happens. Just the water remains, it’s as if your hand was never there.” Not only that, you could never convince anyone that your hand was in that water either.

That lesson has remained with me forever and has kept me grounded when it comes to the sin of overinflated self-importance. That hand that was immersed and then removed is but a vague memory that will soon be forgotten. It has been eliminated with the passage of time from all consciousness and no one will ever remember that it was there.

I recently listened to a talk by a man who addressed this even further, as he explained how we are all eliminated as time passes. He called it the four stages of elimination, and even though he was addressing the older folks among us, it’s still relevant to the young, for their time will come also.

He said that by age 60, work eliminates you. Yes, the workplace eliminates you as someone else will take your place and you will no longer be as important as you once were. Your name will slowly fade from the system.

So often people spend many years working and grow old on the job only to have a younger person take their place. I know this lady who worked for a company for over 40 years, and sadly they closed the branch where she was the manager.

When I heard, I called her to enquire of her welfare, and she was not very happy, for her life and future were in limbo, as the powers that be hadn’t decided what to do with her. Should she be transferred to another branch, or retired, eliminated? She was no longer important to the organisation and was eliminated by the workplace, just as the guy said.

It reminds me of the story of the cup of coffee. In a nutshell, this man was a CEO of a major company, and when he attended conferences he was given the royal treatment. He was offered coffee in a fancy cup and ushered to his seat with all the perks of his position.

As time passed, he was no longer the CEO, but still attended the convention. When he got there, no one met him at the door to offer him coffee. When he asked for a cup, he was pointed to a coffee machine where Styrofoam cups were available.

“Go help yourself, the coffee is right over there.”

He had been eliminated by the workplace and relegated to getting his own cup of coffee. No one even knew his name, for during his tenure it wasn’t he who was important, but his position. So let go of your titles, for they mean nothing after the workplace eliminates you.

“Who is that man?”

“He used to work here, I think.”

Society eliminates you, and your circle of friends seems to shrink. No longer are you invited to fancy occasions, as the invitations slow down. Many of your friends, colleagues, and contacts may have retired or died, leaving an ever-shrinking circle to which you once belonged. Phone calls get fewer and your name doesn’t carry the same weight as it used to.

I remember seeing this documentary on
Discovery Channel about this once-mighty lion who had grown old and withered. No longer was he the king of the jungle, but cast out by the younger lions in the pride. There he was, reduced to skin and bones with his once-lustrous mane tattered and falling out, his tail now a wispy string as he shuffled across the jungle, unable to hunt and disrespected by animals that used to be his prey but no longer fear him. His society had eliminated him, and the younger lions were now in charge.

As you grow older, even your family eliminates you. I have seen this so often, when older folks are placed in nursing homes, hardly visited by their children. But the guy who spoke said, “Do not blame the children, for they, too, have their own lives to live, they have their own children and even grandchildren to take care of, and their challenges and responsibilities are real.” But you have been eliminated.

When you get even older, say up to 90, your body begins to slow down. By age 90, no matter who you are, no matter how strong and vibrant you used to be when you were younger, by this age, life itself begins to eliminate you.

Now most of your friends have passed on and you seem all alone. I still remember my father as he grew older and his lifelong friends and colleagues passed one by one. If you live long enough, it’s a path that you will also trod, as life runs its course and eliminates you in the process.

Many people spend time reflecting, reminiscing, remembering the past, who they once were, what they used to do, what clout they once wielded. Those memories are very important to them, but no one really cares.

“There’s the old guy talking about his past again, he’s so boring.”

Life has eliminated you, but you should embrace where you are and accept the process — the process of elimination.

I hope that this wasn’t too much of a diatribe of despair and despondency, but when I heard that guy speak about elimination, it made me reflect. Still, it’s nothing new, for it was Shakespeare who penned, ‘All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and entrances.’

That being said, and with the encouragement to accept being eliminated, it’s still a very challenging path to take. Many older folks do not relish the prospect and find it difficult to accept. But it is what it is.

More time.

Seido1yard@gmail.com

Footnote: Duppy deh pon we. First, the most powerful and destructive hurricane to hit our island mash us up beyond belief. Nothing can top that devastation. But there was a little glimmer of light to lift our spirits when the Reggae Boyz played their final match to qualify for the World Cup. Hopes were so high, but alas, that was not to be. This was supposed to be our easiest path to the World Cup ever, but we faltered, due mainly to the imbecilic and stupid blunders by the coach, who must be the worst coach in our history.

His ridiculous decisions were unbelievable. After Renaldo Cephas scored against Trinidad, he promptly took him off. Dujuan “Whisper” Richards was phenomenal in his two matches, even scoring in one, yet the moronic coach only gave him 15 minutes in the last match, starting him in defence, until he moved forward and won us a penalty, which was unbelievably overturned by video assistant referee (VAR). To top it, the ball hit the post twice and the crossbar once, refusing to go in.

Then our Miss Universe Jamaica fell off the stage and was seriously injured and Usain Bolt’s Track and Records restaurant in Montego Bay almost burnt down. Is how we salt suh?