[dropcap]I[/dropcap] foraged my house for closed shoes that would permit me to walk long distances at top speed and finally I fished out a shimmering pair that suited the holiday season. I am a sandal, flip-flops and peep-toe kinda girl and thankfully my employers don’t mind my unorthodox footwear. But I was headed for parliament where the dress code is of another time.
I complained in my head the entire commute to the House, even creating a solid argument as to why closed shoes are unnecessary in an island constantly advertised as bikini land. Closed shoes in hot climes make feet unusually sweaty, cause bunions, callouses and fungus, and they damage toenails, And can be so painful!
As I bowed to the Speaker in accordance with House rules, all I could think was that many parliamentarians walked through these sacred halls dressed per code but with no special regard for rules, only meeting clothing requirements but not at all adhering to oaths of office. I still cannot get out of my head our publisher’s recent recollection in these pages about the parliamentary mace being tossed by MPs around the House in 1980something.
And then, there she was, the MP Ms Gale Rigobert walking around the chamber with no shoes on, only stockings that spoke discomfiting volumes. “Bullseye!” I thought and grabbed my camera. But my flash sold me out. I managed to get just one shot of Madam Minister’s shoe-less feet. A few minutes later one of the House’s police personnel demanded that I delete my picture before his eyes. It seems I had done something illegal. I had taken a picture with my flash on, and for that, special permission was required. The officer mumbled something about protecting the image of Saint Lucia.
Ten minutes later another officer told me MP Rigobert had complained to him and insisted on my deleting her picture. At any rate, my picture of her unshod feet. He was just doing his job, he said. “All I know, ma’am, is I’ve been directed to order you to delete the picture.” Fearing incarceration at legendary Custody Suites, I complied. I can’t help wondering, however: is it all right for women MPs to traipse around the chamber barefoot but not all right for reporters to photograph the occurrence? I have no doubt someone has the answer and I fully intend to chase it up!
