Michael Reckord, Contributor 
"YOU'RE JUST in time, Dads," Artie said, waving me into my usual seat on his verandah on Wednesday afternoon.
"For what?" I asked him and he thrust a newspaper at me.
"Have you read the Letter of The Day?"
I said, "No," and took the newspaper. The letter writer, a man in the Geography Department at a California university, was encouraging Jamaicans to "think outside the box" for the island's development. His suggestion was for the establishment of a Blue Mountains winter resort with the use of artificial snow. If a large $40 million winter resort could be considered for hot, flat Australia, he argued, a small one could be set up in the cool Blue Mountains and attract 'droves of foreign visitors'.
"On the face of it, it sounds crazy," I said, "but so did the idea of Jamaica having a bobsled team in the Winter Olympics. And not only did we have such a team, but a movie about it brought us millions of dollars' worth of public relations."
Artie nodded thoughtfully. "That's an example of the benefits of spin-offs."
I wasn't sure what Artie meant and he explained that minutes before he had telephoned a coffee farmer in the Blue Mountains to ask his opinion of the Letter of The Day. The man promised to phone Artie back after he'd read the letter and drunk his afternoon cup of coffee.
"I'd like you to listen in, Dads," Artie said. "We can talk about it after."
The phone rang and Artie gave me the mobile handset and went inside to use the other extension. This is the conversation I heard.
Artie: Thanks for calling back, sir. So what you think about the proposal?
Farmer: Me don't tink it wi wuk you know, Missa Artie.
Artie: Why not?
Farmer: It cole up yah in de mountains fi true, but me neva si snow up yah yet, and me nuh tink Massa God goin sen none.
Artie: Anybody setting up a winter resort there wouldn't rely on God for snow. They'd cover the ground with artificial snow.
Farmer: Man can mek snow? What a sinting! Dat snow cole or warm?
Artie: Snow is always cold. Like ice.
Farmer: Hmm, ice not good fi mi coffee.
Artie: They wouldn't put it in the coffee areas.
Farmer: It not good fah de plants and animals up here neidah. You know seh we have hundreds of different types of plants, including dozens of types of orchids?
Artie: Really?
Farmer: And nuff different types of butterflies and birds and animals. Dem wouldn't like de snow covering de Blue Mountains.
Artie: I think you have the wrong idea. The letter was suggesting a mini sports village. It would take up just a section of the mountain range.
Farmer: Oh.
Artie: And it would help you to make more money from your coffee.
Farmer: How, Missa Artie?
Artie: Well, when people are cold, what is their favourite beverage?
Farmer: Coffee.
Artie: A cup of Blue Mountain coffee probably costs you just a few cents.
Farmer: Me grow coffee. It free to me.
Artie: Not really. Producing coffee costs money. Now, someone at a Jamaican hotel drinking the coffee you produce pays about a dollar fifty U.S.
Farmer: And me don't get most of dat money. It not fair.
Artie: Well, there are mark ups and middle men, you know. But here's my point. Someone drinking your coffee in a hotel in Japan may pay as much as five dollars U.S.
Farmer: Rahtid! Dat is t'ree hundred Jamaican. I wish I got half of dat for de amount of coffee beans it tek to mek a cup.
Artie: Maybe you can if somebody sets up a winter resort in the Blue Mountains and foreigners do go there in droves. They would get genuine Blue Mountain coffee cheaper than they do back home, and you could make much more by selling directly to the visitors. Now, what do you think of the winter resort idea?
Farmer: I going write a Letter of De Day to de editor right now and tell him I love it.
"Congratulations, Artie," I said when he returned to the verandah moments later. "That's what I call thinking outside the cup."
