Could you live on $7,500 to $10,000 per week?

It is the standard rate for barmaids, yes, those ladies that provide uptown, downtown and midtown men with their daily doses of therapy.

“It’s not about the drinking,” said Jan Jan, who works at a small but delightful spot at a place close to Constant Spring. After asking, she told me that she was paid $8,000 per week but she only worked eight hours per weekday and did not work on weekends.

“Is nuff man me save,” she said as she recounted the horror stories some came with. Bella works at an uptown joint for $12,000 per week but she works, on average, close to 60 hours per week. “If I don’t talk to the men like you and keep them steady, I don’t get no tip,” said Bella.

“Sometimes I get more in tips than my pay, and that is what makes me survive. Many of those in my profession are tief, but is lazy dem lazy. Why you have to tief it? Yu can mek honest money.”

At a certain level in all sections of a polity, the trust factor has to be built. The prime minister has to trust his ministers before there can be any authentic unity in the ranks of the JLP, the governmental administration it controls and the Cabinet.

The bartender and her clients probably have an easier passage at most times than the next Cabinet meeting. But the relationships may just be quite similar.

Mark Wignall is a publicprivate and political-affairs commentator. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and observemark@gmail.com.