R Soles...

Once when shopping for running shoes in a large Miami sporting goods warehouse I stumbled upon a box of cross trainers that were not on the display and asked if they had my size in them. The customer service representative explained to me that those items could not be sold because they were all 'R Soles.' Intrigued I pressed further, only to learn that because of a design flaw or other fault, bad performance or because the shoes did not last nearly as long as they were supposed to, they were known in the trade as 'Reject Soles' or 'R Soles' for short; he went on to add that because they failed under pressure and did not perform as advertised they could not be sold. Impressed, I left the store thinking what a wonderful concept that was, the idea of rejecting a thing for poor performance and it got me to thinking about life in sweet T&T and some of the R Soles we have to deal with on a daily basis.

Take the Licensing Office for example, it is the first place that comes to mind when we think of R Soles as the service there is never as it should be and ought to be rejected. Most Government Offices, cell phone companies and many banks are also populated with an abundance of R Soles, as are just about any place where customer service seems like more of a chore than a service. In many of these establishments you can bet your last dollar you will be dealing with R Soles - people who look the part but fail to deliver on the promise or who should not be dealing with customers in the first place; I remember having to deal with a certain assistant Manager in a Bmobile store in the west who is not only an R Sole among R Soles, I believe that she could possibly be their queen.

Then there are the R Soles in public Service, those who seem to take pleasure in making the experience of dealing with them reminiscent of a root canal without anesthesia. Have you ever needed assistance and ran into one of these non-compliance officers who have absolutely no interest in you or your problem and seem to make your life harder just for sport? 
You just dealt with an R Sole.

Teachers who are absent more times than present, who come late and leave early and whose classes produce the lowest performers consistently are all R Soles who are in the wrong profession.

Racist health care providers are R Soles, as are racists everywhere.

People who loot insurance companies and leave the mess for others to clean are R Soles, Ministers who guarantee to bail out said firms armed only with fraudulent fantasy as Company paper work are R Soles as well. The entire Supervisor of Insurance department as well as the Central Bank seems to be flush with incompetent R Soles for failing to spot that onrushing train, and the many overnight financial wizards who knew what to do and to who are all R Soles too.

Drug traffickers are R Soles, but not as big as the corrupt public officials in customs and national security agencies that allow them to prosper. Those are the real R Soles, as are the banks and private companies that launder the loot so that the trade could continue.

There are R Soles in Government and Opposition as well as is clear to see. Whoever decided that WASA does not need clearance from local government to dig the roads is an R Sole. Not realising that having the road repair team on stand by is a testimony to this. 

The entire Opposition seems to be operating in R Sole mode as no one is sure what they stand for anymore. For a man who appeared so competent in the past, their leader is coming across as an R Sole for much of what he says, and if he is only guilty of taking bad advice from faulty advisors, those people are R Soles too.

Whoever advised the Prime minister that to promise a fixed election date, recall and referendum legislation and then renege once in Office is an R Sole, as are those who misprinted the pension promise.

Allowing corrupt R Soles to serve in public posts and State Boards makes an R Sole of the system designed to prevent such appointments, and until we insist that they take Integrity in Public Life and the Parliamentary Code of Ethics seriously we are all allowing R Soles to prosper.

Did the DPP, when he opted not to prosecute the Nelson Street 21 (for a lack of evidence to support the charges as laid) make an R Sole of the AG?

Some might beg to differ as, based on the subsequently released CCTV footage of many of the same 'gang' working together to make robbery victims of unsuspecting motorists stuck in traffic, the argument could be made that their fake innocence coupled with their legal team's hollow triumph may well have made R Soles of us all.