With revenue generation heading further south, there could be more days spent parading into court to justify non-payment of utility and other court-stipulated orders or payments. Yep! We\u2019d be meeting the same judge on different days. But the issue remains the same\u2014failure to meet our obligations per court orders.<\/p>\n
I figure the judge would be sympathetic at the NMI\u2019s mountain of financial obligations is compromised by lack of new revenues or cash flow. The guys and gals would be at the court gallery to listen to court dispositions, agreeable or disagreeable they may be. The Legislature would equip its snorkel and skydiving teams to show the court that it is also working hard, searching for pennies, nickels, and dimes.<\/p>\n
But then the judge may get exhausted seeing the same pathetic faces and insist that the NMI begin paying or someone would be meeting the new DOC head under the cover of quick orientation tour.<\/p>\n
I could hear the boys heading out the door chiming, \u201cEsta, okay your honor, esta\u2026\u201d Walking to their cars with tails tucked embarrassingly between their legs, they\u2019d wink at one another, lamely admitting that the judge isn\u2019t taking excuses anymore. Enough is enough! \u201cEsta\u2026okay your honor, esta\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
The Superior Court would be much more tolerant against forcing payment. After all, it hasn\u2019t paid its loan with the Settlement Fund either. Yep! Let he or she without sin cast the first stone!<\/p>\n
\u2018You look me\u2026I look you\u2019<\/strong> When fireworks begin spewing wildly, your best bet is to look like an innocent bystander and scram. Don\u2019t chance looking like a scholar. You\u2019d get nailed to your cross involuntarily. Either you scram or tell it like it is, like Magoo does all the time.<\/p>\n He suggested stronger use of communal sharing especially \u201cin these bad days.\u201d Said he, \u201cEverbody suffering `nai. You look me\u2026I look you\u201d\u2014look after one another! His mindset seems stuck in yesteryears when we could ask for some salt from the neighbor (when the island was comprised mostly of Chamorros and Carolinians) and not worry about it. These days even your next-door neighbor is from some far away land. He isn\u2019t ready for \u201cYou look me\u2026I look you\u201d but look after himself.<\/p>\n Moreover, Magoo says that communal sharing includes food stamps from among family recipients. I could understand the culture of sharing but I wouldn\u2019t brave what\u2019s destined for the less fortunate members of our community. He insists, \u201cYou look me\u2026I look you.\u201d I respectfully disagree. Even a little salt bought with food stamps coupon is a maybe. It isn\u2019t anywhere near \u201cYou look me\u2026I look you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018If I serious\u2026\u2019<\/strong> \u201cAlthough I\u2019m going\u2026although I\u2019m hungry\u2026although I\u2019m ready\u2026although I flunked my exam\u2026although I don\u2019t care about tomorrow\u2026\u201d He inundated Planet Earth with his favorite conjunction.<\/p>\n One day he caught me laughing of his lingovitis. He wasn\u2019t happy for he thinks I\u2019m making a mockery of his conjunction. Said he, \u201cJR, watch out huh because if I serious I very serious.\u201d I honestly couldn\u2019t figure out how to hold back more laughter. It\u2019s both a case of what he said and how he said it. \u201cWatch out huh if I serious I very serious.\u201d And I was like \u201cAnd this is why I\u2019ve spent years studying the English language?\u201d<\/p>\n Sisyphus complex<\/strong> And so ignoring a vital issue\u2014a very sick economy\u2014has become a commonplace. Are they really oblivious to the fiscal disaster it triggers that eventually land at the village level? Is this why the constant avoidance to buckling down to doing what\u2019s right? Ignoring the economy that literally affects families here isn\u2019t going to fade into history per your shallow assumptions!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With revenue generation heading further south, there could be more days spent parading into court…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[42,4014,257,4015],"class_list":["post-199758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-food","tag-jr","tag-nmi","tag-yep-let"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199758\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWhen people speak their mind, I\u2019d listen regardless of the lingo used, rightly or wrongly. A quick glance into their facial expression is a tell-all. The volume of their voice is a further reflection of their sentiments. You\u2019re lucky if the decibel level is still casually cool and conversational.<\/p>\n
\nHad a friend who fell in love with the conjunction \u201calthough.\u201d He\u2019d use it from dawn to dusk and about the only time he stops uttering the word is when he retires at night. I didn\u2019t know one could suffer from what I\u2019ve coined \u201clingovitis.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe Sisyphus complex is now in full bloom. The guys and gals upstairs have tried rolling rocks up the hill then watch it roll down. In other words, they look at matters of state with a quick glance, ignore it, return, and ignore it some more. Mission accomplished!<\/p>\n