Thread by @rodneytwit

I remember my days at THE St Richard's Primary when field trips/movies were an essential and established thing we did as students...it was part of education/civic pride/fun all wrapped up into one and the student body was from a mixed background...mainly middle/upper admittedly

We did Port Royal, Kings House, Dunn's River, Carib and a whole host of other places...there was a price attached most times and affordable to most...some didn't get "permission" but it wasn't about cost most times..."nex ting mi sen him an him guh drown" but almost all got to go

If 2 didn't make a trip an appeal was made for the next time using "they will feel left out and not benefit like everyone else" and almost surely by the next outing there they were...

However, there was an underlying issue which made these trips more important...it was understood many of us could visit/access all if these places without a school trip and possibly many times over while the lesser income children might not until they became working adults

It opened up so many avenues of thought, learning and appreciation for all...we all had to exist taking the same bus, same food, same everything no matter where we came from in background..and we all had to behave the same or face the same judgement...

We got an early appreciation for the environment while in school several hours of the day and there was zero tolerance...our parents had no choice in joining our lifestyle and we were considered "boys and girls being shaped into great men and women of society"....well...anyway

We went to school with an understanding that no excuses mattered...NONE...monied class or poor had to be on time, clean, right uniform head to toe, homework done, manners, respect for each other and authority...all and more were non negotiable

High school saw the advent of compromise and it was placed on many things and a few years after exit I realised compromise to be a far bigger bargaining chip...it started with punctuality and dress code being "bus hard fi get" and "ah dis sneakers dem sen him from farrin"

Soon it moved to parents insisting their children be allowed in school no matter what time they arrived and allowed to wear whatever they were dressed in or how they were dressed...sooner or later some students became their parents realising laxity through compromise worked well

All this time uptown was still feeling empowered being able to demand what it wanted and neglecting the issues affecting so called "poor people"...eg garbage trucks had to collect regularly but zero care if ghetto people garbage stayed for weeks...as if it was another Jamaica

Uptown didn't care if education was sub standard for some as long as their children were afforded the best...and it became an even bigger issue once too many outside of uptown started filling premium schools...untidy truth

Seems no one remembers a time when not a single person WANTED to attend Ardenne...it existed but was an institution seen by many as "oh yuh guh Ardenne...ah school dat and ah weh dat deh?" They were doing well back then but who cared? Now people say Ardenne even over Campion damn

We sat back and watched the society become more and more divided in principle, lifestyle, life choices, access (and not by money) , institutionalised deprivation and a general acceptance that "that's how these people are so expect no better"

The more movement from lower to middle class did little to change or inspire since so many who made a "step up" turned around to call those left behind "those people" as well...today many who talk about "poor people" forget they were once "those people" but had pride and class

Now they look at "poor people" and try to suggest reasons why pride and class have gone missing...ahhhhhh yes...because I grew up in a Jamaica where being poor was only a physical state of being but pride was a major thing...we taught those who were unsure and they got it

Nowadays we all sit in the surety and comfort of our exposed lives and educated front porches making out "poor people" to be the misfits, unabled, uneducated, uncultured lot who need to be placed in an escape hole of convenient and uncomfortable truths...dependent on the topic

Now we say of "poor people" who squat and build decent houses:
"If dem can build dat weh dem ah tief people land fah...mek dem guh buy land like everybody else" ...and "wait dem tief light but have flat screen and deep freeze...dem fi pay same way mi pay cah mi nah bear di cost"

Oh dear ...oh but wait...some of us are more publicly correct by suggesting all must be done to facilitate their "humble existence" and ways found to make them do what we all do...but free or far cheaper...of course why not?

We want "poor people" to access education, health care and everything else for free, but expect nothing less than first class when WE arrive at UWI hospital...truth is we actually want it free for US, but it makes sense to campaign for THEM so we benefit accordingly

We know 20 beds for 60 who need it exist and we TALK when someone dies and it makes the news...but mek one ah WE guh and cyaa get bed fi hours and unda judgement? War...War...War...because WE now face it personally...it's not really about the "poor" is it?

Before ChikV we knew our helpers sat for decades on a tough bench at BHFC with their children while we simply went to our family doctor...BUT..when this hit and family doctor said "you have to take Summer to Children's for treatment of this" we called it a hell hole for our kids"

We don't really want our children in schools filled with "those people"...nope not today...those days are done...we want them to gain a higher level being around children from a higher level..."too much neygah and low class pickney fi come spoil up my child...oh please hell no"

Back in the day it was great to have a school truly mixed up so all could benefit from the "social experience" ...now "I will pay the 3 grand U.S per term to ensure my little one gets the networking class to be around from early...nuh riff raff and ghetto people not dere"

Now that's a big difference between wanting the best education for your child and not wanting your children to mix with poor people pickney...as if just being around the poor will corrupt little Joey...but where do most of us truly casually socialise and ensure we and kids go?

We see "poor people" as a set who can't afford, can't rise above, can't achieve without handouts daily, who will most likely remain poor...and instead of moving mountains to ensure they come UP we try to find ways to keep them happy being DOWN...we taught them their anthem

We hypocrites used to support every free beach we could catch but the more "poor people" who filled them the more we said "no sah mi cyaa manage di crowd and bag ah tings"...we same one nearly sink Lime Cay di way how it ram...but wait nuh people same way? Nooooo not the same

We want THEM to have a spot where THEY go on holidays and Sundays for THEM so we can be free to be the other places they don't fill up....by the way...you think a fee stops "poor people" from entering a venue? Whole heap ah we can afford fees and went to free Hellshire instead

After we all wrecked Hellshire we needed to find another spot..but many of us now want the spots only we can go to...you think we would be running to big hotels if we thought the beach would be filled with "poor people"? "Mi neva pay mi big money fi come mix up wid dem yah"

You ever drive past Dunn's River on a holiday and wonder where the hell all these people packed in bus and car a mile long going? Is into fee charging Dunn's River all thee3 'poor people" going or a spot nearby weh charge as well? Because is dem you seh can't afford/cyaa guh

We who can afford certain things fill beaches with lots of tourists and restrictive entrances...those who can't afford that fill the beaches where they make up the majority...places with major compliance last far longer and remain cleaner, more environmentally friendly

What's the worst stories WE HAVE when we same one spend a weekend at a local top resort? "Man the amount of Jamaicans in the place...pure rowdy behaviour and problems...jah know star that's why mi prefer..."

We want free beaches for "poor people" to afford or we want places dem will guh pack up and leave the other places with fees for us? We place "poor" as the platform but we really rate poor people?

We want to reach the poor but not teach the poor...they watch us and do what we do...but when the time comes to draw the line we use them as the marker

We who afford beaches all over treat them like sh*t and poor people follow...we who can afford cars drive like sh*t and when they get cars they follow...we who should obey laws corrupt and they follow...we dump our garbage all over and they follow...we're better covering it up

We want access to the cleanest and most beautiful beaches and bemoan how many are now filled with "brown grass"...one thing we know for sure...if even all the spots "poor people" go turn to sh*t at least WE will always have options hmmm?

Creating a culture of awareness, compliance and consequences is not what we're about...that's too much work to invest in...rather just give "poor people" what they deserve and keep them in their lane...that's really what matters while we do no damn better ourselves

If it was left to our whim and fancy and we got a chance to access every beach free and open the entire Jamaica would be like Hellshire stretch...THAT should be the root source of national shame not how many spaces we have or don't have...

Remove every seafront hotel in Jamaica and make every piece accessible and see where our beaches are at in TEN YEARS...what will our complaint be then? We would've used "our rights" to the fullest and entitled to even more beaches weh nuh even exist hmmmm?

The same way we split laws and rights in an argument and throw in "farrin" in the mix is the same way we must demand responsibility from ourselves and see why "farrin" gets it to work...they don't just dash it gi yuh and walk away...comply or else is non negotiable

Barbados? Ok gwaan dung deh guh do as you please pon di people dem beach because it offer free access to di public...yuh tink free access equals duh weh yuh feel like? It costs state to maintain but it costs you if yuh disrespect it...and yuh nah get weh wid nutten dung ah dat

By the way...what a way we don't demand "poor people" get Henny to buy for half price inna dance? Or half price fi Moet? What a way we nah talk bout "free fi go een because poor people can't afford drinks and food pon beach" when 3 quart ah Henny buy inna dance wid free gate

How we nah talk bout dance inna garrison every night weh full up wid who? Poor people? And Henny, Johnnie and Rose sell off every night fi 12, 15 and 20 grand? Ah rich people ah spend? Weh unoo know bout who unoo call "poor people" ? Real poor people can't afford NUTTEN

People we call poor in this country are not the ones we claim them to be...REAL poor people couldn't afford to go Puerto Seco even if it free...food and drink woulda haffi free and yuh woulda haffi carry dem fi free ....suh know who yuh really ah talk bout "poor"

Those who always go beach weh we call "poor people" can afford Puerto Seco IF THEY CHOOSE TO...question is will they abide by the laws/rules that govern there or anywhere else...we seem to forget two things about us as Jamaicans no matter where we from

We believe:
1) I am entitled to this...doesn't matter how I deal with it, it is mine

2) Ah my money spend and I will do as I damn well please...low mi

2 of the reasons we have all helped destroy Ja and make excuses to go further...not poor or rich, we all must change it now

Any person littering, dumping, damaging on a beach at ANY level...could be biscuit paper...fined one million dollars and one year in prison...ensure compliance, enforcement and penalty is guaranteed...without these three all laws are a waste of time

We don't need more laws, we need people to be compelled to follow them...not from the highest crime down, but from the lowest up...if we can treat nature that protects us like sh*t what do you expect us to do with those who offend us?

If two of us find it inconceivable to dump garbage into the sea or on the streets or in a gully because we hold nature and life in high regard we two will find it hard to draw machetes to fix a problem or block a road for 20 motorists just to pick up a passenger...

We need to stop making excuses for "poor people" because we're really making excuses for ourselves who are in many ways no better...and they make enough for themselves while we enjoy the difference...principle has no excuses

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