Mom And Dad

My mother and father (Ron and June Armstrong) arrived on Bequia in 1980 to take up residence at “Angels’ Rest”, their cozy little house in Friendship.  Since the day my parents first stepped foot on the Island they had aimed for early retirement, and were now ready to devote their lives to the Bequia Mission, a charitable organization they had founded. They were wonderful people who contributed to Bequia selflessly, and the entire Island loved and admired them.

Mom and Dad had never seen the Pizzeria; due to the fact that telephones were scarce and overseas calls difficult and expensive to place, we had communicated only by letter.  They had worried about how I was coping – all they knew was that we were selling baked goods in order to raise money for equipment. They didn’t know we were having great success in that department, or that we had started serving lunches as well as breakfast.

My parents adored the restaurant, and stopped in pretty well every day.  I started creating daily lunch specials I knew would please my dad, I knew what kind of food he loved and went out of my way make him happy. They were SO proud of me, and were generous in their praise of my efforts. They liked nothing better than to sit and chat with other customers over breakfast or lunch, and I enjoyed having them there.

One day there was a large cruise ship in port, a passenger vessel Bequia did not have the infrastructure to support.  Those of us with businesses locked our bathroom doors on such days, it seemed that every passenger venturing ashore immediately had the urge to pee.  Water is precious on Bequia, it’s gathered in our cisterns during the rainy season and has to last us throughout the dry season. Each flush of a toilet is water down the drain, hence the locked doors!  Bequia didn’t have a public bathroom, and business owners couldn’t afford to have their facilities abused.  Buying water was to be avoided, it was very costly as well as a major pain in the backside.

I was sitting in the dining room with mom and dad, taking a break before the lunch rush. We watched together as an elderly couple came wobbling up the steps. They were sweet, the man helped the lady up the steps, then she helped him. They smiled and nodded when they sat down at the table next to ours, and informed us that they were on the big ship in the harbor.  When Monty arrived to take their order they asked how much a bran muffin and a cup of coffee would cost in U.S. dollars.  When informed it would be $2.00 U.S. they ordered one coffee and one muffin to share.  We smiled at each other – it was so heart-warming to see such a cute little couple wanting to share a muffin together on Bequia!

The cute little couple burst our bubble when they turned to us and said, “ We take three cruises every year, and if there’s one thing we’ve learned it’s that these Niggers will try and take you for every cent you have!  We go ashore at every port with $2.00, and if we can’t be satisfied with our $2.00 we go back to the ship!”

After her initial jaw-dropping shock, my mother turned and snapped, “Well you’re about to be disappointed because I’m going to cancel your order!  My daughter can be making a lot more than your $2.00 at that table, you are taking up valuable space!”

The other patrons, having heard the exchange, stood up and cheered.