Tower Of Babel

As an independent woman, who believes one can do anything, it is intriguing how one little incident can change the way you may decide to live your life.

Now, I don’t have a Batfink complex.. (”my wings are like a shield of steel”!!) - growing up in Jamaica has well equipped me to being aware of my environment. However, I am mentally ill prepared to deal with an invasion of my space.

In the Kingdom, it is the season of nuff fetes and merriment, all of which requires substantial resources. By extension therefore,it is also the season of petty theft.

My street is similar in profile to a Hope Pastures settup - older people, mostly professionals, nicely manicured gardens etc. Thieves will pass through to see what they can see. And since the trade dispute with the land of the Hummingbird, the fishermen have moved from flying fish to purses. My St. Lucian girlfriend who was staying with me lost her cash a month ago - so I have indirectly been a victim - they broke in (or fished out as it were), and therefore I think I am now exempt. Well….

One can consistently seek opportunities. You never know what one can find.

Thursday night I decide that I will join the festivities and sample the local culture. So as I am getting dressed to go out, I feel that something is amiss - but ignore it.

Just as I put on my shirt, I hear one hell of racket - horn blowing and a man shouting. It is coming from an access road behind my house that goes to a big property. The owner is stopped outside my back yard and is shouting to me!…. “There is a man in your yard!!!! Call the police!!!”

The short version is there was an opportunist that was waiting on his opportunity - and it had my name on it. People are shocked that there is crime in Bimshire - but in Jamaica I never had an incident such as this, and when you look at crime per capita, 3 years ago, the rate was higher here than Jamaica. (I am sure with Jamaica’s murder rate, this is no longer true).

But what is a Princess to do?? Yeah, the cutlass under my bed may serve me well in the garden, but if there was a real emergency, what could I really do??? Am I prepared to use it or any other weapon??

Anyway, the most sensible solution at the time was to go out, and make sure that I dont return home until my neighbours are going to work - hence the logic of returning home at 710 a.m. And since today is Saturday, I had to return from J’Ouvert at 10:15 a.m. to make sure that persons were up and about.

These early mornings are starting to take their toll however - so I will have a early night tonight.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 31st, 2004 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Rants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.