Kelly

One of the biggest problems in Jamaica is that we love to rush.

We rush everything in every way. We leave late and end up rushing to our destination, which means speeding and bad overtaking. Admittedly, some don't need to be in a rush to do that but being tardy doesn't help.

Two weeks ago, the public was told about an increase in the fees for an essential article about a week before the increase was set to take effect. This time, it was at the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA), and the fees related to passports. A little more notice would have been nice.

But again, in true Jamaican fashion, everybody decided to swarm the offices because they had no intention of paying the extra money. I believe the final notice was short but, in fairness to PICA, knowing Jamaicans, a rush was inevitable, regardless of the deadline. If the cut-off date was, let's say, February 15, 2010, there still would have been a mad rush on the 10th, 11th and 12th. We need to look no further than the annual student-loan lines for evidence.

What bothers me is that we still haven't figured out that rushing never benefits us. Some men rush through sex and end up getting 'bun'. Students rush when studying and end up with 'basketball jersey' grades. Politicians rush to make statements and end up having to apologise.

We even do it in sports. Remember how the last World Cup campaign ended? We did nothing in the first three games and then forced ourselves to try to win all the home games (and by a certain margin, dependent on scores from other games).

Limited options

The thing with doing things helter-skelter is that we often end up using methods we don't like because, at that point, we have no choice. Some of the same people who didn't renew or change their passports all this time would probably say they didn't want to wait in line. Well, lo and behold, what did they have to do week before last? Line all reach outta door! We love to wait until we HAVE to do something by a certain time before we get moving. Tsk tsk!

Oh, and speaking of having to do, hope I don't have to call for roadside assistance if the experts are wrong on this E10 business. What a prekeh if the lowest-cost gas at service stations stalls all E10-fuelled vehicles. It's back to the old days. Forget horse and buggy; it would be BMW (broke man walking).

But then, I'm no auto/fuel expert so let me not 'rush' to conclusions.

Don't rush me at daviot.kelly@gleanerjm.com.

A section of the massive crowd which engaged in the last-minute rush for passports at the old price. - norman grindley/chief photographer