The Decision to Leave Jamaica

One of my friends responded to a post from someone who said they were glad to have left Jamaica given the current unrest there. The responses were generally negative. Now maybe the person didn't put their comments in the most complimentary fashion but nonetheless there are salient points.

If you leave Jamaica it doesn't mean you are a traitor. There are lots of lovely things about living in Jamaica however, sadly the things that make it very difficult to live there are fundamental issues that affect life itself.

Unless you are well educated and can pull down a decent salary, you WILL be living in poverty with not much of a security blanket. And even if you do earn a lot there is the thorny issue of security. Some people still living there like to brush the crime situation off but it is a serious issue. And for those of us who just couldn't take the daily threat to life limb and property there's no shame in moving some place where you can be safe and not have to devote a sizeable chunk of your salary to basic food items.

Now there is an argument that if we all stayed then Jamaica would be a better place. No it wouldn't There is a culture in Jamaica that ensures that the minority of criminals and backward thinking attitude prevails and you can't prosper as a nation like that no matter how many well intentioned people stay. There has to be consensus that certain habits will prevail - such as being on time for instance.

I left because I realised that the way I wanted to live and progress was not in sync with how the majority of Jamaicans want to live. That difference is fine - if you don't like the prevailing situation in a country then by all means leave. But we shouldn't be chastised for that choice.

Telly Talk

I was hoping to get some answers from Lost but it seems like the closer we draw to the end of the programme the more questions get thrown up. This week’s episode with Alison Janney was great – quite haunting really. But I do hope they won’t leave us hanging at the end by not answering all questions in the hope they can come back .

Can’t believe they are cancelling Flash Forward and Heroes. I think this is a mistake and I hope some other station will pick them up. Same for Lawder (what we call Law & Order in our house). I hope they know what they are doing with an LA spinoff and I hope it keeps the same strong story lines and doesn’t got the route of looks over substance.

The Beginning of . . What?

And so the marriage has taken place. I am conflicted and somewhat disturbed. Disturbed for obvious reasons unless you are a Tory, and conflicted because I seriously doubt that the two parties can really co-exist without real friction. Also, I feel that unless Nick Clegg turns the Deputy Prime Minister role into something substantial – that his party has got the short end of the stick in this.

We wait to see what unfolds.

Migraines

Does anyone out there know of the best painkiller to take (in the UK) for migraines, without having to get a prescription? When I was living in JA Exedrin and codeine tablets worked a treat but I haven't come across anything in the UK that works. Appreciate the feedback.

Don’t be a fool all of your life

I was at an event recently, a discussion and voting came up. Many in the group said they will not be voting because they don’t trust any of the three major parties on the hustings. Now I have heard people say this type of ridiculous thing very often. Here is my position: whatever these people do or don’t do, there will be a government, the UK is not turning into Somalia anytime soon. Now all of the people saying they weren’t going to vote said that they had serious issues with many areas of their lives which are ultimately affected by government – housing, education, crime etc. Now you tell me, if you don’t vote, you have no say in putting in place the very people that control the issues that seriously affect your life. How is that a smart choice?

‘But I think they are all as bad as each other so what’s the point?’ I hear you say. But is that really the case? Come on, be honest, go through the list and I’ll be there’s one party that you can be positive you don’t want to win the most. So vote for someone else and take a vote from the most loathed party – if anything (and hoping you are a decent person) you can take a vote from the BNP.

Women and black people especially have no business talking about not voting. Too much blood has been shed on their behalf. So go and exercise your right and responsibility. No one is violently preventing you from voting as is the case in many parts of the world. Why would you voluntarily give up that which has been so hard fought for?