Triniglish|Trinididioms spoken and explained #111
Yuh is ah Trini | "Vie-Ke-Vie"
This literally means to do things in a reckless, careless, unreliable, indecisive or haphazard manner. Well one morning every word that describes the Trini phrase 'vie-ke-vie' was slapped across my forehead. It was a bright and sunny Sunday morning and even though it meant the next day was school (never liked school) we always looked forward to that Sunday lunch. Sunday lunch in Trinidad is a treat. Well for the very first time I was called upon to catch the fowl (chicken), slaughter it and feather the bird for lunch on this precious day.
Lord help us all... more so for the sake of the chicken! I chased that fowl all over the yard. It was a chaotic situation with dust in the air and the chicken body beating me at every turn until I corned it at the fence separating the neighbors property from ours. The chicken was exhausted and making 'screeching chicken noises' It was pandemonium in the chicken world as the other in the the yard were cackling and watching on.
The next phase of the operation was to cut the chicken's neck. This was a comedy of errors and a sad day for the bird that was about to provide lunch for us. I had one of my feet firmly planted on the chicken's feet with the wings under my right foot. I plucked the feathers from the birds next to expose the area I was going to place the knife to take the birds life. I was indecisive and reckless and proceeded to cut the neck after holding the bird's head and feathers together. The knife was not sharp and I did not have any technique. I was literally sawing the birds neck... It escaped and was running in the yard with the dogs creating more confusion. This was not the intention of the process but eventually I caught the bird and finished the job. After dipping the bird in boiling hot water I removed the feathers and handed the bird over to my mother.
That was not a pleasant experience... It was a learning experience and from that Sunday it was my job to get the dirty deed done. I got better over time and it was not a case of an amateur trying for the first time. Those were the 'good ole days'.