mmm pork belly

Not some strange highlander dish, but from a german friend. I teased him when he mentioned he was making it – pork belly?! Who would eat such a thing. It was on par with the pig’s ear we used to give our dog as a treat. Or the lamb flaps they sell here; he’d been in png too long. And then he spent a while in the kitchen and some of this belly was actually delivered to my door, and looking at it I was even more unimpressed – just look at those crunchy bits of fatty gristly stuff. Uh uh. But I had to try it; and they were covered in salt and so damn good that I ate my words along with all the pork belly and was left speechless, licking my lips.

**

Two weeks ago the local govt fired a number of staff. By sending a letter to everyone who hadn’t been fired.

This creates uncertainty. Not everyone works in town during the week, so not everyone checks their mail. Not everyone has a mail box; maybe they use a wantok’s PO number, maybe the wantok has the letter…The speed of the post is also erratic; maybe a letter will come tomorrow…

All continue to be paid, anyway, so checking your bank balance to find out if you’re employed doesn’t help. The govt can’t afford the redundancy payments, so they just keep on paying salaries.

Some people, not knowing if they have a job or not, continue to turn up to work. Some continue to turn up to work, refusing to be fired. The letters go out at the start of the week. Everything ambiguous: a few people know they still have their jobs, but no one really knows who hasn’t. By Friday, fearing retaliation, the office of the provincial governor is swarming with security and police for protection.

‘It’s absolutely gutless,’ a friend exclaims. ‘They should at least have the courage to tell people to their faces.’ But maybe there’s a bit of logic to it: maybe the ambiguity buys you a bit of time, a few days at least, where you can act tough and as if you don’t fear reprisals – and it divides the troops, too, no one knows what anyone else knows, you’re not going to get a gang knocking at your door or a group of clans putting their feet down in some way; you can haul in your protection towards the end of the week when they’re beginning to get restless – and then you can get out of town for a few days…

I don't know; it'd involve a bit of scheming. But it's not impossible.