No laughing matter

THE EDITOR, Sir:

SURELY by this time, the caring, decent people still living in this country realise how profoundly endangered they are.

Just as one small example of the truth of our situation here in Jamaica, this morning (July 7) the MPM garbage collectors came into our neighbourhood, Waterloo Mews, at about 7 a.m. As usual, after dumping the garbage into the back of the truck, the man then flung my garbage container down into the road in front of my house, damaging it more severely than ever before in the process. I was watching him, and as he did this I called out to him that he was mashing up the container. His response was a loud "Shut up, yuh white bitch!"

Now I know that around 75 per cent of people reading this, or unfortunately, a lot more than 75 per cent, are laughing as they read it. This is the problem. That man who called me a white bitch does not know me, or how much money I may have given him at Christmas time ­ even that thought did not stop him. He is filled with hatred and rage, and he is one of many, many thousands. Our Jamaican response of laughter in situations like this is a frightening omen of the inevitability of an irreversible national catastrophe.

I am, etc.,

SADAN TAYAD

Back to Letters