Another July .....

[crabby]

So ageism is ok? Police officers need to demonstrate a professional manner whether they are in uniform or not. Tourists and citizens should not have to tolerate this behavior based on an assumption. Nor should they change who they socialize with for the same reason. If prostitution has lead to police frustration, that is on them. Perhaps if they did some real police work,and got prostitution under control, they wouldn't have the time or inclination to harass innocent people.


Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere....Martin Luther king Jr

[Rob]

Welcome to the Board and Happy New Year! Interesting first post. Bringing up a 4 month old thread...

Not what I thought would be my first post of the new year, but here goes.

Ageism or exploitation? With all the media coverage of the "Me Too" movement in the US, there may be an age element but the underlying issue is with exploitation.

People who have power over another, be it job, money or influence related, can, have and do abuse this power. The victims in the "Me Too" movement for the most part had it done behind closed doors.

In Negril, this exploitation behavior is so prevalent that it is done out in the open. On New Year's Eve, we witnessed a much older visiting woman groping the butt of a substantially younger Jamaican man in public. Too much PDA to say the least.

Speculation can be made of all kinds, but let's look at a few simple facts. Jamaican minimum wage is roughly $50US a week. Ever leaving the island for a vacation is a pipe dream.

Visitors on the other hand have already bought a plane ticket. Obviously there is a very different financial situation between the average Jamaican and the average visitor.

What we witnessed may have been completely innocent, but when you see it many times a day happening with different people, not all of them can be innocent. Exploitation is taking place. And when you see it everyday of the year, even from a non police viewpoint, it can become frustrating.

Prostitution is considered illegal in most the civilized world because it is not a victimless crime. Prostitution is called the world's oldest profession and has been outlawed by different civilizations for around the last 10,000 years. But even the most Draconian of them never got it "under control". Expecting Jamaica to be the first civilized country in the modern world to do what has been impossible since civilization started is unrealistic.

The Negril Police do real police work. Police everywhere should be respectful of those that they protect and serve. But police happen to be human too.

In the US, "body cams" are being made mandatory for many cities and States because police (humans) can make mistakes. Being verbally disrespected when you are associating with substantially younger locals while on vacation can suck, but not as much as being shot or killed which unfortunately happens so often in the States that body cams have become necessary.

As I have said, which I will try to make more clear, the only way to prevent any person from assuming you are not exploiting a younger Jamaican is not to hang out with locals who are young enough to be your child or grand child.

[captaind]

I've been given the "eye" by some Jamaicans and visitors when traveling on the beach with the grand/great grand pickny.

Nothing I can do about that. Usually the Jamaicans figure it out pretty quick but some visitors have actually scolded me for being with young people.


So it goes

Cap

[Irine]

My wife and I befriended a Jamaican women several years ago while on vacation, or should I say we hung out with her as she was willing to teach us dominoes and talk about Jamaican culture. She was very interesting, but also very pretty. She was 20 years younger than us and walked 30 behind us on the beach when we went anywhere to avoid conflict and perhaps getting beaten. it saddened us deeply but we learned that we were not in the USA, or Canada, or a lot of other countries that wouldn't understand. We must respect who they are to visit them and be part of their culture. But keep in mind they also know the rules and the young lady knew the risk of being on that scooter that day.

[M&G Montreal]

Phew.......glad you didn't say Canadians.......

No - Canadians would still be there apologizing .... eh?