Rainy weather in Jamdown….
Yes bredrens, indeed a rahtid rain a buss again…making the land here a lush tropical green to behold. As you may have read here before, we have been having a very wet rainy season this year. The land is waterlogged. But apart from the weather being a bit glum, I have to say that the happenings in the country are as dark as the weather itself.
This is what greeted me on the front page of the Gleaner while having my cup of tea this morning. I shook my head and cussed under my breath…dis phuckery happening again, and again!
When will it end? I can’t answer that. Does it reflect a lack of training on the part of our Police? Or, are they just predatory vultures waiting to attack prey? Please don’t get me wrong….their job is hard….I know I couldn’t do it. But I ask again….how much more tarnished does the image that the rest of the world has of us have to become? People think of us all as a barbaric set of hooligans who have no respect for human life…and, I can’t say I blame those who feel this way. No wonder that the holding of a Jamaican Passport immediately causes an alarm to go off in the head of any Immigration Officer in any half decent country. Because of the fact that a small percentage of our people become involved in the drug trade, crime and the like, the decent majority of us have to prove that we are what we say we are….decent.
How many innocents do our Police need to slaughter? Will anything come out of this and the Kraal incident (and all the others before)? I know some who say that even though things seem fishy, in time Kraal will just get swept under the mat. I hope not.
We depend heavily on tourism for foreign exchange. I can tell our government (for free I might add…and not any million dollar consultancy fee) that now that the US plans to lift the travel ban to Cuba for Americans that our tourism product a go suffah nuh rass! Just wait and see.
I have always considered myself a patriotic Jamdown bwoy, and even though I know things here are not perfect, I always stand ready to defend the good things about my country. After all, this place gives me my identity and it provided me with a decent education. But, maybe I am quietly thanking the Almighty that He has not blessed me with a yute (child) as yet, as I don’t see my country as a place that can provide a future for a child. Where do we go from here?
Right now, I’m actually chilling after dinner with a rum as I am here pondering my own future. What if I or someone close to me was one of these two innocent men killed? I would feel frig up bad. I need only to remember how badly I felt when my Mother passed away…and she was no victim of violence. The weather is very grim in this country and right now I can’t say that I fell like ‘bigging up’ my chest and saying that I am proud of what is going on here. Wha any o you haffi say bout dat?
October 27th, 2003 at 11:08 am …I wouldn’t be too hard on your country…this news has yet to make it here so we still see it as a wonderful place :^)…I think that all countries have their ‘evil’ side - I think all countries suffer from problems with their police/church/politicians…we put these people on pedestals and then discover that they are human after all when we hoped they would be better than us…oh, that’s not to say that there ain’t some wonderful policemen, priests and politicians out there - but when was the last time you saw a headline - policeman helps old lady across the road/priest comforts family in their hour of need/politician refuses bribe and votes with conscience…it ain’t news, it don’t make headlines, it don’t sell papers… …as for having children - I thought my children were going to be killed in a nuclear war and yet they were kept awake to watch the berlin wall being torn down…I think there are always fears for our children - but they will survive and we have to hope that in the end good triumphs and the ‘bad’ people in the world are also ugly and sterile :^)…
October 27th, 2003 at 12:47 pm Not only does America have lots of ugly sides, but the media (ours and the world’s) likes to magnify the ugliness and make sure everyone knows. Human nature is so unnatural sometimes. Our rainy season has been really dry. It’s supposed to be raining a lot and we’ve had less than an inch the entire month.
October 27th, 2003 at 1:23 pm Dr. D, don’t worry about what we hear…U.S. residents don’t hear about Jamaica unless they go to a travel agency to prepare for a trip. If they are seasoned travelers, they already know what Jamaica is about. Sometimes Jamaica is written about in travel sections of Sunday newspapers where the usual warnings are written about the crime and not venturing into “certain areas”. Really, we know nothing about Jamaica’s problems.
October 27th, 2003 at 3:04 pm Interesting comments here so far (I’m hoping for more!
October 27th, 2003 at 3:05 pm T Bone, I will try and divert some of the rain to Texas….we have had more than our fair share for a while.
October 27th, 2003 at 3:54 pm Hail up Dr. D., What’s even more disheartening is the fact that despite the increase in police brutality, there is an even greater upsurge in the crime, which I expect will lead to an even greater show of who is boss in the near future. Spoke with a police brethren of mine recently and from the lawmen’s side of things I get the impression that they are at loggerheads as well. He mentions being pinned down in live fire for hours and when you look out all you see are women and children. The “innocent people” obviously knows where the guns and ammunition are but it’s now accepted that lawlessness is OK. I think we have an attitude issue dealing with on both side and we need to address it quickly otherwise we had better consider arming the entire population and call our island Little Dodge City.
October 27th, 2003 at 10:16 pm Big up Scratchie…now don’t tell me you have been reading here all along on the quiet and not commented before and now I have pulled your tongue…anyhow, if that is even the case I appreciate your visiting. Interesting what you Police bredren seh. All I can say is that if we get to the point where I must have a firearm in order to live here, then is time fe me fe flash. BTW, is what you a scratch??….I hope is not the same part of the anatomy that a Maths teacher we used to have in First Form was famous for scratching away at (and got the nickname too from it!)
October 28th, 2003 at 12:33 am I’d still come down there sometime if the trip became ‘do-able’ for me and my family. If I didn’t read here and at Mad Bulls site I’d be in the dark about what is going on in Jamdown.