My name is Jason Rambally and I am a senior air-conditioning technician.
I left school about age 12. Secondary school was a waste of time. Too mucha fighting and teachers ent coming out at Curepe Junior Sec. When I was about ten, a flood in Curepe take five families’ homes. Within losing everything, it really didn’t make sense going to school. Is always morning shift fighting evening shift. So I talk to my parents and drop out of school and start to work with my dad doing construction.
(My) son, Justin Rambally, turned three years in July. My wife is Melissa Tulah. Is feel real good to be a father. Is help you push more. Even though I’s be working Sunday-to-Sunday, in the beach, liming wherever we is, he always want to be by he daddy.
According to the Bible, God always there. So you don’t need to go to church to talk to him.
I’ve been in air-conditioning for nine years. I met my boss, Steve, from small, and he told me I looked like a fella looking for motivation and he go train me. And now I’m one of the best service technicians throughout the Caribbean. But I still training to get better because, each day that go by, (challenges) get bigger and bigger.
My best friend did the eyebrow piercing for me. Growing up, I used to like listening to the rock music. We was liming and, under wildness, we buy the needle and just do it home.
As time go by, I get to realise that kinda heavy music, like Killswitch, Marilyn Manson, wasn’t a good road to go down. Now I listen to anything with plenty bass.
I know my girl from real small. I like her since I was five years. Growing up I was always telling everybody, “I go get that girl!” When I get my eyebrow piercing, she did like it more than me! So we end up linking up and been together since then.
My girl and my mom was real close but my mom come and pass last year, so we move out and started to rent in Arima. Because of family issues, fighting down land and all kind of thing. I rather leave everything and buy back everything from scratch again.
I lock off my two brothers and my two sisters. I have seven nephews and nieces I want to stay close to and don’t want nothing to do with the bigger people. They could read this in the papers and feel a how. That ent nothing. Them know they was never there from the start and, when Mammy come and dead, everybody want to be there. Everything that was supposed to be mines, they want. So I give them it. Let them fight one another now. I far off. You could buy back material things.
I eat doubles all over Trinidad. Melissa could tell me she cook, I would still stop and eat a doubles on the way home. The best doubles is in Chase Village, as you come over the flyover, heading South Side. Everybody’s be by that silver truck.
(Nowadays), everybody want to pull gun. That’s why every two days, you hear five-six people get shoot. Bandit go kill out bandit. Police not going to have to do that. You shoot he, now he friend coming for you. From the time I see fight start, I gone!
I’m a senior technician so I do everything: service; install; repair; everything to do with air-conditioning. I go all over, Tobago, Mt Hope, UWI, all over. I been to the (former) Prime Minister’ home servicing a/c units.
The best part of my job is that A/C is a lazy man job. It ent have no hot sun like in construction. The hardest part of air-conditioning is when a customer accustomed to certain kind of service and you come and give them a different kind of service. When we come and spray water inside (the house), customers watch us, because they never see that happen before. People take out the filter and carry it outside and wash it and charge $300.
A Trini is a man who like to eat doubles with slight pepper and drink rum!
To me, Trinidad & Tobago means living the free life. You can do anything and like yourself. It have no rules and regulation like them other countries.
Read a longer version of this feature at www.BCRaw.com