Letter From America

Hi There, My opening salutation should give you a clue as to where I am writing from. Just in case you cannot figure out, greetings from the land of plentiful; also the number one enemy of the ghost, I mean "osaman".

Going through immigration on arrival was not that hectic this time. It was smooth sailing, no big questions requiring full page presentation.

I was wondering whether the search for “osaman” is still on or whether all systems to grab him were so well in place that there really is no cause to harass anyone entering this great state these days.

I actually touched down one hour before lunch time, having spent six and a half hours or so in the air, connecting from Heathrow.

Oh, mention of Heathrow reminds me of the much hue and cry made about the opening of Terminal Five by British Airways earlier in the year.

I am told that after all the noise and the super grand opening, the systems failed and therefore my original connection at Terminal Five was changed to Terminal Four.

Can you imagine if this had happened in my beloved country? The bashing we would have received both within and without?

On board the British Airways flight which brought me this far, I started asking myself so many questions.

I remember one question that sat prominently on my mind was how come the flight from my Ghana land to the Queen's land is about the same as a direct flight from London to the Big Apple yet the sizes of the British Airways aircraft used on both routes are not comparable.

Whereas we get squeezed up in a much smaller aircraft from Accra to London, British Airways puts a much bigger and spacious aircraft on its London-US routes.

You do not even dare talk about the services on board. Two worlds apart I tell you. The smiles and courtesies from the cabin crew, the difference is too glaring. How about the fares?

From Ghana, you are paying about one-and-a-half the cost of the fare you would pay for the same distance to say New York or Newark. So what at all is our curse in our part of the world?

Why can't our leaders talk for us? Why do we continue to allow such short changes even on our own soil?

When I touched down on the American soil, it was Fathers' Day. You could feel it in the air. And why not?

Those fathers deserving of the honour need to be celebrated every minute and there are many like that. We made a brief stop at one of the numerous malls and it looked as if it was a mini Christmas. I thought America does things in big style.

So how about the other group of fathers, I mean those who clearly would have been left off any honours list?

How I wished I could get into their minds to bring my readers an account of how they felt on such occasions.

Yes, the irresponsible fathers who continue to abandon their fatherly duties at one stage or the other. Watch this space.

My beloved, I have been scanning the American news and it is amazing that even almighty America is also going through the same difficulties as small fry Ghana.

There is credit squeeze, economic hardships, floods that would not go away, and what have you.

It is true therefore then when our politicians tell us that the hardships in our beloved country are global. For once, I am beginning to swing along with them. Yeah, yeah.

The June 19 edition of USA Today newspaper had a striking lead story that compelled me to read.

 The front page headline: “Hitting home – the economic squeeze”, had a cover story which was captioned: “More consumers, workers, shoplift as economy slow — lessened spending power breeds a lot of temptation.”

The story clearly linked a steady and alarming rise in shoplifting at many retail chains, with experts pointing at a prime cause: The sputtering economy.

According to a Chief Economist at one of US's financial markets, “wages are not keeping up with inflation, especially the price of food and energy. It just leaves less money for everything else, and that breeds a lot of temptation”.

According to a Professor of criminology at the University of Florida, “the most recent rise in both employee theft and shoplifting are being driven by the economy. A lot of people are on the financial edge”.

The story goes further to quote the Knox District Attorney-General as saying that there is now more food theft, and it tends to come from repeat offenders many of whom seem to be struggling with financial issues.

Squeezed by the tightening economy, stores are looking to trim costs. One easy way out is to reduce the number of sales clerks on the floor with fewer employees greeting people at the door and watching shoppers walk the aisles, it is easier for shoplifters to grab and stash merchandise.

The shortage of staples on the world market, as well as the record high prices of crude oil, is hitting America hard.

I understand that a couple of months back, a staple like rice was being rationed by warehouse retailers Sam's Club and Costco. Surprisingly, back in Ghana, I could walk into Kaneshie market or even the container shop up my heavily eroded street and buy as many bags of rice as I wanted.

As for fuel, people here have resorted to innovative ways to weather the storm.

Drivers across the nation are reported to be cutting their speed slightly to squeeze more mileage out of $4-a-gallon gasoline.

Oh did you know that driving 60 miles per hour rather than 65 saves 20 cents a gallon. Are those using the Accra-Tema Motorway and for that matter any other highway in Ghana listening?

Let me take a break from the global economic woes that have hit even America and shift to something else – floods.

When I was leaving my beloved city, Accra, a few weeks back, it had been raining cats and dogs.

 I remember getting caught up in a Friday late morning heavy rains in Kaneshie. I spent good two hours wading through floods for a journey that would have taken me just under 30 minutes to get home.

Nonetheless, the floodwaters in parts of America cannot be compared to those at Kaneshie, Asylum Down, Otojo, Dansoman and those other flood-prone areas in Accra.

Hundreds of acres of corn have been submerged by floods in those corn-producing areas in the mid-west.

Entire homes have been swept from the foundation by floodwaters and hanging at roofing level under water.

Some homes have been emptied by floods and communities continue to rely on decades old flood controls that fall short of modern-day guidelines.

Community volunteers are busy filling up sandbags to be used to shield towns along the Mississippi River. Odawna quickly comes to mind.

Before I end my letter, let me share with you something that has touched my heart. Speeders are to be made to pay extra for police fuel.

In an Atlanta suburb, drivers caught speeding will soon have to pay an extra $12 to cover $4-a-gallon gas costs for the police officers who stop them.

This fee hike was passed by the city council to offset fuel prices that have eaten up nearly 60 per cent of the Police Department's 2008 fuel budget.

Any revenue mobilisation lessons here for our Metropolitan Assemblies? How about the Police Headquarters? Our social commentators should not politicise this. Let us fuel innovation in the public sector.

As for the Obama/McCain campaigns, they are hot, hot, but at least the nation is not polarised. It is America first before the Democrats or the Republicans. Is anybody listening? Chao for now.