PLAIN ENGLISH
Maureen N. Maratita
The use of a word or phrase can spread as fast as Omicron. Assuming your doors are still open, if your business didn’t “pivot” in 2020 or 2021 to deal with the realities of a shuttered economy, then the good news is there is still time — we’re not booming yet in the islands.
And then there was “ideate” meaning to think or form ideas. “Ideate” may be here to stay — I’ve seen it in crosswords.
We’re not even through the first quarter and the 2022 buzzwords are starting to appear. I’ve heard or seen “tracking” a few times already. As in “I’m/we’re tracking you” meaning everything from “I understand” to “We have you listed (for an event)” and “I’m not tracking that,” meaning “I don’t know” or “I haven’t seen it.”
But as the year progresses, I hope you are tracking the 2022 Guam Business Magazine Executive of the Year, which is on Saturday, May 7 at the Hyatt Regency Guam. Don’t ask me about the theme — but I’m sure we will ideate that soon. We will particularly appreciate your support this year.
More news on that very soon. …
Admiral Benjamin Nicholson, commander of Joint Region Marianas (among a list of other responsibilities) not only has been to England, but also lived there as a young child, he told me before our interview.
Nicholson lived in Great Yarmouth and later — while at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy visited Felixstowe in Suffolk — for our readers in or originally from England.
If Felixstowe rings a bell for knowledgeable members of our shipping and transportation industry, they may know that — aside from being a charming seaside town — Felixstowe was for many years the largest container port in the U.K., and still may have the largest throughput of containers.
It’s hard to say, given Brexit, but England’s wide connectivity to Europe should still exist. …
I finally remembered why Felixstowe was familiar to me too. As a middle-schooler, I went to a children’s holiday camp there for two weeks. I can’t remember much about the experience, but I do remember the accommodation was in dorms. …
The Admiral doesn’t remember much about living in Great Yarmouth, but he did say that there was only one restaurant at the time some miles away where you could get a burger. …
Wimpy’s was an American burger chain that operated in England when I was growing up. McDonald’s opened in London in 1974. …
Hard Rock with its American menu opened in Mayfair in London in 1971. My boss at the time offered to take me there for a birthday lunch. We were surprised that the restaurant didn’t take reservations. (We went anyway.) …
But the burgers I really remember in London came from a tiny takeout in London — no seats, but juicy burgers to go. When I was still living with my parents, my girlfriends and I would sometimes stop there after a Saturday night out in London on our way back to the suburbs.
Our routes in the early hours of the morning also involved pit stops to buy the Sunday papers and fresh beigels.
I thank the admiral for that trip down Memory Lane (even if I’m now craving a burger). …
— Maureen N. Maratita is the publisher at Glimpses Media. Publications at Glimpses Media include the Marianas Business Journal, MBJ Life, The Real Estate Journal, Guam Business Magazine, Beach Road Magazine, Buenas and Drive Guam.
