Do we need to declare gifts at Customs?

[Irieonline]

Guess not everybody gets that some people like to see the joy and happiness that getting a gift gives to a person. You can't tell me that giving a gift to school children teaches them that tourists bring gifts and teaches them to beg. Pretty sure that if they live near Negril or mobay they have a family member who works in the tourist industry or makes money from tourists somehow. Sorry to be negative but if I am bringing something to Jamaica for a friend or a school I want to be the one giving it, partly for the reason I just stated and also because I want to make sure it gets to who I want it to get to. I didn't see anyone jumping on the boardies here who took the time and initiative to tour around the small towns near Negril to just randomly hand out cheap toys to kids and telling them they are turning kids into beggars. Sorry we all can't afford to hand out checks and cash but every bit helps. I say if it brings you joy and makes you feel good to bring school supplies and toys for kids by all means keep doing it. My wife's greatest joy is handing out candy to any Jamaican kid anytime she see,s one anywhere on the island. Hope she doesn't read some of these comments because she will just think she is making beggars out of them instead of making her and them both smile

[smith744]

You can't tell me that giving a gift to school children teaches them that tourists bring gifts and teaches them to beg.

.
I've made quite a few trips,
to Negril & other Ja-places
and
although you may believe it,
it's true

here's one (of many) examples::::>>> I'm strolling in Negril
down by the RoundAbout
...school has let-out
.........back-packed, jolly, neatly dressed & coif-ed school children, frolicking as they make their way home

LOTs of folks out & about
moving, moving, doing their Ja-thing
...mostly Ja-residents
.....not many tourists-types

a group of 'bout 5-6 boy-students
see me
.....I get *that-look* :::>>> he's from-foreign

boys-SAY (while laughing):::>> ''..Give me/us some money..''

I laugh back-at-them
[[[ 'cause I got the *joke* ]]]

they continue-on :::: jolly, frolicking, 'cause they've been *practice-ing* their beg-tourist thing-y

this has happened to me on numerous occasions in Negril
but
not so much in Lucea-town [[ very very rare-ly ]]

.

keep in mind it's an ***industry***
the tourist-INDUSTRY
....which requires one to *learn* & hone industrial-strength ways & habits :::: gotta start early-early to go-from rookie, to novice, to intern, to apprentice, to finally reach INDUSTRIAL.



..
.
.

Pretty sure that if they live near Negril or mobay
they have a family member who works in the tourist industry
or makes money from tourists somehow.

.
.
lol
lol
lol

tru tru TRUE...!!!..

in fact,
the odds are pretty-good
that said-family-member(s)
DON'T live IN Negril
...it's too expensive [for many] to live IN Negril
.......they might live as far away as SavLaMar or Lucea or further/farther out ---- approximately 20-miles away

I've *learned* that most children LEARN their *ways* & habits FROM their ''..family members..''


.
.
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I didn't see anyone jumping on the boardies here
who took the time and initiative
to tour around the small towns near Negril
to just randomly hand out cheap toys to kids
and telling them they are turning kids into beggars.

lol
lol
lol

I've been off-the-board for a while,
but if I'd seen that-post
i *probably* WOULD have said something-something
[[[ as i have in the past ]]

ummmmmmmmmm
maybe not

'cause,
as now is the case,
that *discussion* tends to mash-up a thread
[[ as is the case right NOW
ummmmmmm
WHAT was the original topic of this thread...???... ]]]

lol
lol
lol

like i said,
i probably would have said something,,, but lately, in my old-age, I've given-up on _____ _____ _____

nevermind,

my now-deceased grandma once said, when I asked her for some advise::::>>> ''''... I DON'T give advise anymore ..... folks gonna do what they want to do anyways....'''.
.

.......................... Sorry to be negative .............

no no nooooooooooooooooooo..!!
:-(

you NOT being ''negative''
....i don't *see* negative-ity
........we *reasoning*, mi fren
.............everyting cris


.
..

........................ randomly hand out cheap toys to kids ...............

.
.
ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

me all-ways say:::>> ''..WHEN in Jamaica,,, do things the SAME way you would do them back-home, in your hometown, in your neighborhood, back-in-foreign...''

so,
that said,
I'm trying to visualize
what would happen
here in good 'ole WashingtonDC USofA
if some stranger(s)
came rolling thru my neighborhood
handing out toys and candy to the children.

ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

on my street,
my neighbors would pitch a hissy-fit
:-(
some would call the police
and tell 'em to come get the ''..gift-givers..'' :::: suspicious activities.
.
.
ummmmmmmmmmmmm
that guy in/from Chicago-land:::::: John Wayne Gacey(sp?) comes to my mind, for some strange reason



.
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Hope she doesn't read some of these comments
because she will just think she is making beggars out of them instead of making her and them both smile

.
.
* sigh *

as Rob said (above) [paraphrased] ::>> '''... food for thought ..'''