Bank crank
Jean-Paul Sartre was wrong. The legendary French existentialist philosopher found lasting fame with his observation that “Hell is other people.” Clearly, Mr. Sartre had never experienced the horrors of operating a bank account in the Virgin Islands. A Beaconite would suggest to laugh-a-minute Jean-Paul that endlessly waiting in line at one of the downtown banks is far worse than “other people.” Indeed, there are huge amounts of other people there with you — hence the hold-ups — so it’s the worst of all worlds. It is not the tellers’ fault that there only ever seem to be about two of them on duty at any one time: That’s the incompetence of the managers supposedly running the show. It has now been two months since the Financial Services Commission warned the banks to shape up or face the consequences. A senior FSC figure told a financial gathering in June that VI banks “must take action to improve interactions with customers and reduce the long lines that we have grown accustomed to seeing outside of the banks.” But — as that other great philosopher, Bob Marley, once said — we are still waiting in vain. And with a recent 90-minute slow-motion shuffle to get to the counter, the Beaconite is often also waiting in pain.
Slow to pass
Employing two wheels as his main transportation, a Beaconite understands as well as anyone the relationship between drivers of two wheels and four in the Virgin Islands. That is to say, the relationship is strained at best. Scooters and motorcycles often weave through traffic and treat public roads as their playground, while drivers of both vehicle types often fail to signal turns and lane changes — or make a mockery of the roundabout in Road Town. Whether steering a wheel or handlebars, the territory’s motorists should all be able to agree that more focus on safety could benefit the islands. To that end, he would like to highlight the most egregious safety violation he has experienced recently: the infamous pass up the hill. Geared motorbikes are limited to 125 cubic centimetres in engine size, forcing riders to hold one gear most of the way up a hill. Because of the lack of power, downshifting often forces riders to keep that lower gear for the duration of the hill, reducing their speed below what is safe. For this reason, you’ll often see motorbikes pass cars up the hill. It is against the law for those cars to increase their speed while being overtaken, according to the 2009 Road Traffic Act. For all motor vehicles (whether two wheels or four), this practice is extremely dangerous. In the future, the Beaconite hopes to see more compassion on the roads.
Neighbourly
Locking window shutters, wrapping computers in trash bags, and placing newspapers on the floor in preparation for a storm was something one Beaconite had not experienced until this week. She is still relatively new to the Virgin Islands, and the tropical storm that made its way across the Caribbean this week was her first. In the days leading up to the inclement weather, she felt well-prepared as she was stocked up with water, canned foods, lamps and extra batteries. But because it was her first tropical storm, the process of securing a building, whether it be the Beacon office or her apartment, was entirely new. When helping lock the shutters, another Beaconite spoke of her growing familiarity with the process. The reporter’s landlord echoed a similar sentiment when speaking to her later that day. The other thing that struck her was the general sense of neighbourly kindness before, during and after storms. It is an attitude many residents describe when recalling hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. But even during smaller storms, it is nice to know that people are looking out for one another.