Beep-beep! Here comes the pudding man!
Published:Monday | July 27, 2020 | 12:26 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
For 15 years, Nicholas Roach has made a living selling sweet potato pudding and other food from his bike-propelled mobile unit in St Elizabeth. And today, even with the coronavirus pandemic, he still motors from remote hamlets to bustling towns across the Breadbasket Parish.
From April to June, Roach, like most business operators, was hit by a slump in sales as Jamaicans observed social-distancing rules and stayed off the streets as often as possible. Curfews lasting as long as half a day hurt sales even more, especially with some persons’ heightened fear of contracting the new coronavirus by touch. That reticence drove him to make home delivery a daily option.
“It was down, very down. You hardly see anybody on the road, but like these people now, they know when I am coming, or they call, or something like that,” Roach said as he made a stop in the seaside town of Treasure Beach on Friday.
“I had to do that because you not seeing anyone. No shop not open, or things like that. Treasure Beach people afraid of corona.”
The family man is up as early as 4 a.m., preparing pudding, fried chicken, salt mackerel, and the soup of the day, and zips from home to home until about 5 p.m. – or whenever the food is finished.
His journeys span many districts and towns across the parish such as Williamsfield, 12km north of Treasure Beach, and Junction, 23km east of the coastal town known for its quaint getaways and fishing community.
FEARFUL OF COVID
Roach is concerned about contracting COVID-19, which began to soar in Jamaica in April before subsiding. But there is new anxiety as the country recorded 63 new cases last week, bringing the toll, as at Saturday, July 25, 2020, to 837. Five new cases were announced Sunday evening.
He is fearful of being a danger to his family.
“I am a big risk to my family. If I out here and catch it and take it back to my family, a seven dat (in the household),” Roach said.
He travelled to England earlier this year to bury his mother and was tracking news of the virus’ surge internationally. On returning to Jamaica, Roach said he knew that he had to make crucial operational adjustments to his tricycle truck.
“I try to set some restrictions, even on the truck. I tell people that they can’t lean on the truck,” Roach told The Gleaner, a mask-like handkerchief around his neck.
“I tell them I am protecting them ... . In St Elizabeth here, we are far from it.”
By 10 a.m., Roach is on the road and ready to serve.
On Friday, Evelyn Deleon and Violet Jarrett were on-call customers being served in Treasure Beach.
They purchased their favourite sweet potato pudding.
“We buy daily, and sometimes we miss him when he’s passed already,” Deleon said.