I don't remind the vendors -- sometimes I buy something, and either way they help me get a feel for market for what everything costs. The beggars I can do without, but Rob has pointed out, they're in the USA, too .... Ya, the vendor can be pushy, but nine of 10 will take no for an answer ....
USC,
If you didnt intend to single out American tourists, then why did you title this thread," Why do Jamaicans think Americans always need something?". To every single person reading this for the first time, it does imply that you intended to be talking about Americans. If you didnt mean that, then maybe you shouldnt have posted it that way in the first place.
If you were staying at a place that allowed you to be roused from a sleep on the beach, why not complain to the place you were staying? How is this "Jamaicans" fault (your generic use of "Jamaicans") when your hotel/resort was allowing it? Why not criticize the place you stayed as opposed to blanket statements that include all Jamaicans? How is that in anyway respectful?
As for the "silly fist bump" - cultures and countries often do things differently. What about that "silly double kiss" thing that many of those Euro countries do? Or that "germ spreading, silly handshake" thing that Americans do....
Hopefully food for thought....
Negril.com - For the vacation that never ends!
My question is - why do you think they single out Americans? Guess what, there are plenty of tourists in Jamaica that don't come from the U.S.
Honestly, when we were they last winter we talked to as many Canadians as any other nationalities.
I know it can be a bit tiring, but these guys are just trying to make a living. I would rather have someone try to sell me something rather than beg me to just give them money. I have never once been woken up by a vendor, and believe me, napping on a lounger is a daily routine for me. I just set my chair back from the water a bit and never have a problem. Maybe its the places we have stayed but I have found they will not bother you while relaxing.
Sam I am...gotta agree with you! No one is forcing USC to go to Jamaica. It is what it is...for many of us, a place to escape and relax. Sometimes the vendors can be a little much..but it is part of this island. People trying to make a living. If you don't want something, then decline the offer. I have found that one can deal with it and still have a great time.
I don't mind someone giving their opinion. I applaud it~ however, don't generalize that everyone is trying to scam you. Truly, some may be...but many are just trying to survive pon an island that is not easy to survive on. Hopefully, many will see this and continue to enjoy an island that is so very unique..vendors and visitors.
When I go to a restaurant I hope a waitress takes my order. When I walk in a store I hope a clerk asks me what I am looking for. I look at the beach as a great big restaurant/store with clerks asking me for an order. After the first day even newbies that travel with me have the no thank you thing down (maybe it's just me but if I am awake I have already communicated no thank you with a smile and w/o words before the sell is asked for). I have never experienced the being woken by a clerk, but I would venture to say it would only happen once, by the time I had spent 30 minutes of their time (keeping them from other sales) graciuosley explaining without letting the clerk get a word in why I was enjoying my nap and then still said no thank you I would have to imagine the clerk would avoid me like the plague. Furthermore IMHO most of the clerks on the beach if told no thank you once realize that you are not in the market for their goods and or services and are not going to waste their valuable time by asking again. Even another observation IMHO is that newbies that travel with me think there are thousands of clerks on the beach, but after a couple days with a little coaching they realize there is only a limited community with many of that group practicing in a limited stretch of the beach.
Now where is the Patti Man?
Take a side trip here. When I first ventured to Jamaica I was told rightly or wrongly (the source would have me believe rightly) that when someone says RESPECT to me it would equate to me saying THANK YOU. I have used that definition over the years and it has served me very well. My other observation that like me languages foreign to me the context of the sentence can change positions in comparision the the form followed in english, in the hills I notice that not only do I have to find the words but then put them into the order that my englisg sentence understands. It's funny what the conclusions that can be jumped to if you are interpeting a sentence in the wrong order.
I have won many awards in a lifetime of competition and service. But the highest was offered without plaque or fanfare on a hilltop in post Ivan Jamaica. A true Rasta and a dear friend observed "Chet you are like a father of men, you see need and fulfill that need without being asked". Let us be travelers and not tourist.
WOW! I actually get bummed when I dont get spoken to by the beach vendors, beach walkers, etc.. I find it part of the flavor of Jamaica that I enjoy.
FYI...in Belize the locals have their kids knock on hotel doors to sell bracelets. I have never had that happen in Jamaica.
There are actually other places on this Island that re just as beautiful if not more so and that you dont have to say No Thanks-cuz they don't ask..
Just got back from Duncans Bay/North Coast area..The beach better than 7mile(IMHO) and the 2 weeks I was there not one person asked me for a thing..Just friendly locals/fisherman going about there business..Port Antonio is another area where you would not be "bothered" when hanging out on one of their many beautiful beaches..I'm not knocking Negril(first went there in 1983)-I like the place on a lot of levels-but Negril is not the only place in Jamaica and if this issue really bothers you then check out other areas...
" Ones destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things." (Henry Miller)
I hustle every cute girl i can find on the beach and they respect my hard work as well. It's a tough job, but...
What did I tell ya USC??....lol.
lol. Yes, Jaherring - definitely outnumbered. At least one person here understands what I'm saying...Originally Posted by Jaherring
I took a Carnival cruise 2 years ago that stopped at Ocho Rios. The cruise director warned people not to go past the gate at the port unless part of an organized tour. He said not to look the Jamaicans in the eye, because they will follow you and hassle/scare you into buying something. Didn't take his advice and went on our own to Dunn River Falls and found out why they tell people that on the ship. Think I'd rather walk around late at night in the scary part of Atlanta than do that again. Got into a shouting match and almost a fight with an idiot vendor who wouldn't leave my wife alone. Bought a video cd which was of some other day. Many people on the ship complaining about the same scam. The ship also stopped at Cozumel and Progreso, Mexico. No vendors bothered us there at all. We went to Grand Cayman. Nobody bothered us there.
Jamaica has a bad reputation because of the obnoxious vendors and deservedly so.
I come to Jamaica to relax on the beautiful beach, not to buy worthless trinkets and illegal drugs from obnoxious hustlers who won't leave you alone and have difficulty taking a polite NO for an answer. Think I'll stick to the all-inclusive resorts from now on and never go outside the gate.... Then the locals won't get any of the grand or so spending money that I normally drop while on a week's vacation...
But, alas... no one has really answered my question yet. Why to Jamaicans think that tourists (Americans, Canadians, Germans, or wherever) always need something when we're on their beach?
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