Tower Of Babel

It really seems like this exercise programme is working as here I am up early again. I thought about what to post today and you see the topic so here goes.

For those of you who may not know just about every Jamaican has family living abroad or as we say in ‘foreign.’ On account of this, many of our people are frequent flyers. On the trips that I have taken over the years, I have had some ‘colourful’ experiences with my people and I’ve decided to share a few.

Quite a few years back, my dear little sister and I were returning from new York to Kingston on American Airlines (in those days I had no say as I was student), the flight attendant came around to serve the meal. She told us that there was a choice of chicken or beef. The lady seated at the aisle seat in our row when asked which she wanted replied, “I’ll have both!” Of course Rufie and I just stared at each other with a certain look that only people who know us well would understand.

I was returning to Kingston from London in 1998 and travelling on British Airways (I got a real deal on the ticket price courtesy of a friend that I could not turn down) and a Jamaican man on the flight who was apparently resident was selling the fabric (cursing) because he was not happy with the meal. He wanted Ackee and saltfish (our National dish) or Mackerel rundown, I don’t think he would have such luck on B.A. but I guess he was really yearning for a taste of home.

Recently, I was travelling back to Kingston from Ft. Lauderdale on Air Jamaica (voted the best airline to the Caribbean three years in a row now) and the lady in front of me at check in had three HUGE pieces of luggage. The gentleman checking her in asked her how many pieces of luggage she was checking on, she said two. They weighed the two pieces and her bags were overweight requiring her to pay for the excess weight. He then proceeded to ask her about the third piece. Oh, she replied, that is my HAND LUGGAGE. He asked her if he could weigh it, she replied that she would need help to lift it as it was a bit heavy, which the man obliged her with. (I was eagerly watching the proceedings and smiling to myself.) He said, this bag weighs 96 pounds! You will have to check it in and pay a further overweight charge!! She was not amused but I guess she totally misunderstood the concept of hand luggage.

Travelling back to Jamaica from Antigua from a conference about three years ago, I was seated beside my boss with whom I have a great rapport. The pilot must be commended for his landing which was on par to that of an Air Jamaica pilot. As the plane touched ground we only heard when the lady in front of us exclaimed JESUUUS!!! I suppose she was calling on the Almighty and thanking Him for allowing us to have a safe flight.

My boss told me that on her way to London once, she was seated beside an elderly lady who was wearing a hat. When the Captain started to power up the aircraft for takeoff, the lady was holding her hat securely on top of her head. My boss asked her why she was doing this, she replied that she didn’t want her hat to get blown away when the plane had picked up speed!

Yes, we have a very colourful set of people in this our beloved island.

Guess what, today is PAYDAY, that one day of the month where we get that little cheque in exchange for the many days at hard labour. Well, I hope its nuff nuff (plenty) of money. For those of you like Mad Bull who may get far more than you expected, feel free to send the excess to me by e-mail. Have a super day.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 25th, 2002 at 7:59 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.