Trini to the Bone

by today’s Urban Chameleon contributor

There are only five great people in the world and they are Trinidad, Trinidad, Trinidad, Trinidad, Trinidad. This is how uncle, Tony feels about his beloved country so much so that he refuses to travel on vacation to anywhere else from his Brooklyn home where he and my aunt live but to Trinidad. He claims Trinidad is the best place on planet earth, why go anywhere else. However, what I don’t understand is how he ended up together with my aunt who is Jamaican. Why not just marry a Trini instead of trying to convince a Jamaican for over twenty years now how much better Trinidad is? Regardless, Uncle Tony never misses a moment to mess with the Jamaican side of our family.

This past Memorial Day weekend, I came down early one morning for breakfast where uncle, Tony was sipping some coffee and eating a traditional Trini breakfast. He has an entire section in the pantry that is just of his precious Trini products that he brings back from every visit. He says to me. “You want some Trini breakfast?”

“No that’s ok uncle, Tony I’m just going to scramble some eggs.”

He grunts as if to say that I’m missing out. A couple of moments of silence go by until he begins to tell me that he one day saw Bob Marley eating chicken. Incase you aren’t aware Bob Marley eating chicken would be considered Sac religious being that Rastafarians generally believe that touching meat is touching death. However, Uncle Tony swears that Bob was gnawing on a bone.

“Uncle Tony where would you have seen Bob Marley eating chicken?”

“In Trinidad! Where else.”

“He was not.”

“I am telling you, Bob Marley was at Sammy's chicken shack right up the street from where I grew up gnawing on several chicken bones just eatin’ up all dat good chicken. He had on some dark sunglasses trying to hide in disguise but I know it was him. What made me even notice him in da first place is that I sensed someone was in dat chicken shack not from Trinidad only to see Bob Marley himself. ”

“Uncle Tony, I don’t know if I believe you.”

“It’s ok dear, you can't blame Bob. Trinidad’s chicken is the BEST in the world…if I was Bob I would be sneaking off to Sammy's shack too.

Uncle Tony can’t help but to mess with me this morning. He is just Trini to da bone.

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