Positive 'Humour'

AMAZING, what a Starbucks latte can do for you! That cold creamy, preferably iced, concoction of perfection perfectly cupped and tagged just for me. It can make traffic seem like a road trip, or turn a lazy day into a 5 MILE treadmill walk-a-thon with inclines reaching as high as 10 and speeds that could compete with a small child at Magic Kingdom. Latte’s are also capable of making humour possible. It’s funny enough that it can be spelled with the American “or” ending or the UK “our” ending. Thankfully, I am a great speller. 

From 1983 to 1989, I spelled these tricky words with an “our” since I lived in a once English colony. To be correct, Trinidad has been under Spanish, French, British and Dutch rule, so lets just be happy that I can speak any one language at all. In 1989 at the age of 6, I picked up my bindle (Wikipedia it if you don’t know what it is) and climbed into the boat set sail for the land of opportunity. Alright just kidding, I packed my suitcases and flew with my family……..in an AIRPLANE. The only opportunity I got, was to drop the “u” and spell with an “or.” I dropped it in 'neighbour', I dropped it in 'flavour', I dropped it in 'colour' and the list goes on. From 1989 to 1990 I dropped the “u”, just in time to return to Trinidad. Yep, we lasted there about 6 months, a winter. A Florida winter to a first time Caribbean emigrant results in your parents dressing you for school like Ralphie and Randy from A CHRISTMAS STORY. So, back in Trinidad I lost the winter gear and picked up “u”…..again. 

1990 to 1993 were good years, I used that ‘u’ left and right, up and down my pages in school until I got the news…..moving again! Back to Florida we went. Sixth grade, where awesome spellers are rewarded with Snickers, Starburst’s, even Twix! Ah the land of opportunity indeed. It was a great two years. Then came the eighth grade. Bushy eyebrows, the last girl in school with unshaven legs, STILL not 13 yet and a mean English teacher to boot. One day, I had to make a presentation and she asked me to stand (even though I was already standing) and for once I didn’t understand. “I am!” I responded, almost in tears. Small giggles from around the classroom started to get louder as I shrunk even more. “Stand up!” she insisted with her evil chuckle. What did I miss? HUMOR! And not with a ‘our’, it was humor, plain old h-u-m-o-r. Now, had I had a latte that day, I might have laughed. 

Today, I am a remarkable five feet nothing and cannot even blame coffee for stunting my growth because I only developed this insatiable habit way into my twenties. Currently, I am back in Trinidad spelling humour the only acceptable way with an ‘our’. Yes, I let spell check and auto correct incorrectly correct me but it always makes me think of that ironically “English” teacher, whose opinion of Humor, I let get the best of me that day. There's a positive in every situation and it's our job to find it. Latte's for me tend to do the trick but when all else fails there's HUMOUR! I might have been able to see it that day, 

had I had a latte………..

#trinidad #latte #humor #humour