Dear Jamaica,
I have a story to tell you. The other day a friend and I was in the supermarket getting some food. When we were done “fattening we eye” and buy what we didn’t need, we decided it we time to head to the cashier. But when we look at the lines at the check-out stations they were ridiculously long, we felt frustrated. However, I decided that I am not staying in any of these long lines cause a “whole day business dat,” so as short as mi be, mi tip-toe to see if I can spot the shortest line.
Low and behold there was this very short line that was blocked off by another line behind it. How it was situated anyone would have thought that there was only one line that stretched out, but at a closer look one would realized it was in fact two separate lines. So mi dis cry “excuse mi please,” in my most decent voice to squeeze pass everyone and just “katch” inna the short line. The funny thing was that all de people dem inna the long line gave mi pass anna look on me weirdly as if to say “a wey dis eediot a guh?!”
Anyway mi tek mi time reach at the top, only about two persons in front of me, when some of the people inna the long line realized what just happened you want to see dem face, lol. Some of them even started to move up. I called out for my friend to come join mi at the top and she did, mi give her a “bly.” The lady that was directly in front of us heard us talking and turn and said in her Jamaica dialect “ongle a an nadda Jamaican coulda see dat dis line was here” We all started laughing, she continued “you know mi see de line but dis man use him cart fe block it off so dat oddas couldn’t seet,” with a smile on her face she added “mi dis ask him wey him a duh, if him a guh or come and him say ‘go ahead I’m waiting on my wife’, –mi dis push pass him” her eye widen, “only Jamaican smart suh, dats y dem nuh like wi, we can survive anything” At this point I almost died laughing, because it was so true.
From I born fe see a set of people that love to join long line and inna traffic, waiting patiently, for no good reason, lol. Jamaican, we just want to go and get through without any hassle, even if that means we have to talk out we way, well so be it. Bowy, it makes me remember in the last hurricane that we had over here, when strong winds blow down all the electric poles. Once the electricity goes there’s nothing you can do, especially no cooking. But mi say Jamaica, my spouse run one big wood fire pot inna the people dem decent Apartment Complex, lol. It was a big pot of Rice and peas with chicken a bubble. Pieces of dry wood that could be found after the storm, provided the fire. All the people dem a walk pass anna say “you guys know just what to do, eh?” They have it right because while they were eating dry food, our bellies were filled with nice hot bickle and warm water fe guh bathe.
I can’t stress the point enough that Jamaicans have been known all over the world as a set of people who are smart, innovative, hard-working and productive. It is just sad that, our reputation has been tarnished by a selected few. Jamaica, Let us thrive as one people to return our ’sweet Jamaica’ to its former splendor.