I kēlā me kēia mana`o
December 2004
Da Lass Days of Lloyd Labasan's Postal Career
(to da tune of ‘Little Brown Gal’
weet ukulele/guitar chords)
By Lonnie Wiig
This song was written for Lloyd Labason Jr, originally from Maui, upon his retirement last June after 30 years at the Hillsboro Post Office in Oregon where he was a window clerk. He is so well known for his humor that people came from far and wide just to buy stamps or mail a package, said Gary Miller, a fellow clerk who often teamed up with Lloyd to entertain their customers. One of them, Lonnie Wiig, wrote this poem and then set it to music with `ukulele chords in parenthesis.
Lloyd been (C7) stay leaveen soon, all da hyuma stay gone
No moa (F) garanteed laffs, no guffaws from da trongs
Hillsboro (D7) Pose Office now, oney (G7) get stamps
Bags an (C7) boxes an change all day (F) long
Eet’s not da postal ways dat stay colleen to Lloyd
No moa “Help you young lady?,” no moa keedz troween toyz
Now Lloyd can get een heez kah, cruizeen down to da shoa
Peek opihi fo eat weet heez poi!
(Am) Tru dat postal (E7) wandalan, Lloyd (Am) crakkeen all da (Dm) peepul (E7) up
Bot no (Am) stay hahd fo (E7) unnastan, why dat (Am) Maui boy gone, Help! (C7) Call da cop!
Wot Gary goeen do? He’ll be Cheech weetout Chong
All da customa sad, da show stay ovah an gone
But Lloyd can get een heez kah, cruizeen down to da shoa
Peek opihi fo eat weet heez local boy poi.
Lonnie Wiig lives in Oregon but grew up in Honolulu and went to UH-Mānoa. He’s not only fluent in Pidgin, but also speaks Spanish, Japanese, French, some Chinese, some Swahili and even some standeed Eengleesh. Lonnie has taught Japanese in Hawai`i and Oregon as well as English in Japan. He likes to write poetry, play guitar, study history, buy and sell real estate, travel and take long walks on beaches with his wife, Carolyn Miki (Kaimukī High, '70), and their daughter, Aisha (North Medford High, '00).
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