"Santa Claus ain't have no wife, he living a lonely life." Beers in hand, a group of men sit liming on wooden crates on Charlotte Street, one of them swaying to the melody of calypsonian The Mighty Terror's Christmas ditty blasting from a street vendor's CD cart. Across the street a man sat staring into space, head in hand, inside his vegetable stall in front of a pile of unsold ginger with a sign saying, "Ten a lb". Other vendors lining one side of the street sit in their stalls filled with Roman sandals, clothing and fruits hoping for last-minute shoppers. This was Charlotte Street on Christmas Day, almost like any other day for vendors, except there were fewer people and less traffic. Why they were out selling on Christmas Day and not at home with their families was not the story.
Their main worry was poor Christmas sales. And this they were blaming, not the recession, but on the recently ended state of emergency and a poorly managed economy. "I always out here," said Shirley Bobb-Cyrus, a store owner who said she "came up through the ranks," volunteering to speak on behalf of vendors. She said she bought a variety store from a Chinese businessman and operates another business in East Side Plaza. "I have bills to pay. I will stay out here until four or five." Outlining the plight of street vendors, she said: "This is the worst Christmas in 19 years for street vendors. And Port-of-Spain vendors were the hardest hit."
Told that Main Street in Chaguanas was a beehive of activity and that it seemed every shopper gravitated to that shopping district for Christmas shopping, she snapped: "Even Chaguanas was not Chaguanas this year. "Cars couldn't pass down Main Street before. Now they moving through more free than before.
"This is the hardest Christmas I have seen in a long time." Asked what she feels may be the reason, Cyrus replied, "People saying is recession. "But it's because people lose their jobs during the curfew and have no money to spend. Unemployment is high. "And," she added, "the economy is being badly managed." Niekesha Carter of Maloney sat alone inside her fruit and vegetable stall. One young lady stopped to buy something. Carter, a mother of one, said poor sales this season forced her to come out to sell on Christmas Day.
"This year was the worst. I don't know if it was because of the curfew. A lot of people who used to work nights get fired because of the curfew. "We were going through a recession last year, too, but sales were not so bad." Shirley Wynne, a mother of three from Diego Martin, was taking shelter from the sun under the awning of a shop in a space occupied by a slipper vendor. Her clothing was displayed in her stall on the side of the road. Wynne echoed the cries of her fellow vendors; the state of emergency affected Christmas sales this year. "Normally, I would stay at home with my children. My mother just called me and said my two daughters were crying. "I had to come out because sales were not good. The curfew affected us and sales didn't pick up even after it was lifted.
"I have to come out on Christmas Day to catch up. "The money I put out I am not making back. The profits small." Vendors on Queen Street did not want to be interviewed. Asked why she did not want to talk, a lady with a Guyanese accent made a sweeping gesture towards the line of stores on Queen Street. A man dressed in a Santa Claus suit meanwhile was buying items from one of these vendors. "I am Santa and I ran out of toys," he said. "Merry Christmas!" one of his daughters shouted.