Respect

[Packrat]

One of the great words I hear and associate most with in Jamaica is Respect, for me it is the feeling of admiration for someone or something that is good, valuable &/or important and should be treated in the appropriate way. One of the common themes on this message board is our Love of Negril and the people associated with it. Those people are the locals, expats and the visitors who help make it the Mecca it has become to many of us. Help me understand why this great word and meaning seems to be getting lost here on this message board on an almost daily basis.

What has happened to Celebrating Individual Differences? Acceptance of those who's views differ from our own? Having meaningful dialog as opposed to malicious personal attacks? We all have individual likes and dislikes and that is what makes us each special and a valuable asset to this great world we share. My core values and beliefs may differ from yours but that does not make them right or wrong, just different.

I beg that we please STOP with the personal attacks, the character assassinations and plain old rude behavior that has become more prevalent recently. Think before we speak (or write). I am not advocating censorship in any way but I am advocating Civility. As members of this Forum, have a common bond, and Respect should be at the top of the list when interacting with others. Disagreeing with ones views or choices is certainly acceptable, but disrespecting them personally is not. All views are either good, valuable &/or important, they may not be our views, but they provide the insights that helps us formulate our own. Respect, Love and Irie are more than just words to speak, they are meanings to a better way to interact with others.

[Slightly Stoopid]

Well said ... & an EXCELENT point !!!
Big Up & Respect

[yetta]

Amen! Unity through diversity....this is a big world, full of many people with many opinions. Only by agreeing to disagree and respecting opposing views, will we ever be able to truly learn and maybe begin a change for the better. Blessings to all. As Marley sang...ONE LOVE! Nice post Packrat.

[rocknrollfarmer]

Thanks Packrat. I'm not perfect. I try really hard to go out of my way to be friendly and RESPECTFULL to other human beings, even thoughts of mending fences with past issues to a couple of folks.?? But anyhoo, yeah everybody needs to attempt to adjust priorities. Let's start a respect revolution, and that starts at home, preferably in the bathroom mirror !

[Rob]

I want to thank Packrat for starting this thread, as well as ALL the members of our extended Negril online family, posters and readers (lurkers) alike. Our "Boardie Community" has existed since 1997 and as with any "community" it has had its ups and downs. Thanks to all of you, there has been much more ups (positive) than downs (negativity). This thread is proof of that fact.

When I heard about President Obama coming to Jamaica, I felt the same as most Jamaicans that this is an incredible symbolic gesture for our small island nation. And to be honest, I was following some of the fun talk around the island about where Obama should visit (although it seems his visit will be rather short).

When I first saw the post here, I thought this was a great thing for our visitors to read and that the topic would focus on this great gesture and possibly follow the lines Jamaica was discussing, humourously trying to pick places for him to visit. Heck, Rick's was even mentioned! Because of that I was too lax in my job of keeping the thread on topic and stop the political rhetoric, especially since that rhetoric was based on US politics and had nothing to do with Jamaica. For that I am negligent and sorry. I should have nipped it in the bud. (Ganja reference unintentional)

We are all different people with different views, and we should celebrate that fact. That is where new ideas originate. That can be a good thing. Although it seems to contradict human nature, we should try not to think "bad mind" thoughts about those who have different views. Just because we may have varying views doesnt mean that we have to act on all of them and make posts attacking others, be it the President, our Prime Minister, business owners or other members of our Negril.com Boardie family. This is the only world we have and life is hard enough without actively adding strife to it.

Actress Ashley Judd is going to press charges against Twitter users over sexual harassment posts on her Twitter page. Just because these people have their views does not mean they have to post them. Discretion is the better part of valour. Even the CEO of Twitter agrees. "In a recent internal memo to staff triggered by a Guardian comment piece by Lindy West describing her abuse on Twitter, the company’s CEO Dick Costolo wrote: “We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we’ve sucked at it for years... I’m frankly ashamed of how poorly we’ve dealt with this issue during my tenure as CEO. It’s absurd. There’s no excuse for it.”

The world news since Wednesday has proven what can happen when people with certain views and beliefs are intolerant of others. The needless tragedies in Tunisia and Yemen shows what can happen when this intolerance is taken to its ultimate extreme. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of the victims. It is a sad world we live in at times.

Lets all understand that not everyone shares our views and that is okay. And it is also okay to allow them to live their life without the fear of being attacked on the internet. We try to do our best here, and I personally apologize for not appropriately handling the thread.

[Packrat]

Rob, your integrity is beyond reproach and in no way are the actions of a few a reflection of who and what I know you believe in. Thank you for providing us the resource to educate ourselves in all that is Negril and Jamaica. The integrity of any community is for all to maintain and enhance their environment, not just the leader. Keep up the great work.

[Rumlover]

Thank you Packrat and thank you Rob. Respect!

[Big_frank]

Thank you Rob for closing the 'ugly' thread.
Thank you Packrat for reminding us what is real.

[Honey518]

Fantastic thread! Thank you

[HarryS]

When I hear the word "respect" in Jamaica, it's not the positive thing posted above... It's vendors and hustlers who don't accept "no" and pester you, then yell about showing them respect, which is then followed up by patois that I now know to be offensive.

When my wife hears people talking about "respect" in Negril, she gets SCARED - because we're about to be bothered by someone who doesn't want to take no for an answer. They have no idea how much they affect tourism. If not for me pushing my wife to go back, we'd be spending our vacation dollars elsewhere. Read trip reports - there are plenty of people who go once and never go back because of things like this, or never leave their AI resort due to fear.

Sorry to go off topic here, but this is something that bothers me greatly. I wish everyone who wanted "respect" was coming from the same place as the OP.

Edit - wanted to add that the pushy vendors have caused us to spend more time on the cliffs, but you can't get away from it there - one of the worst run ins I had with someone who demanded "respect" was along the cliff road. He wouldn't accept our polite refusals and began following us and making threats, demanding we stop and give him respect. I was definitely feeling threatened. If not for some vendors stepping in I was almost sure I was going to get into an altercation with this guy. I'm not a timid, fearful person either, having grown up in the NYC area in the late 70's and 80's before it was cleaned up, I tend not to fear too much when out in public minding my own business.