First Timer: Just go back from Negril

[Yvonne]

Yvonne, as a longtime/longterm visitor maybe you are approached differently than a newbie? I know that's the case for me. People in Negril know me by face - if not by name - and I am usually treated very differently than first timers. Having been to Negril and stayed for weeks on end for more than a dozen years, I'm known by people who live there. Yet on more than one occasion I have been on the beach with friends, and maybe gone in for a nap or to the store, come back and my friends are surrounded by sellers who scatter when they see a face that they recognize. Sometimes, especially with newbies, "NO" (even a firm one) is not respected.

Apparently so. I don't get bothered but I am asked to buy things. Also, my experience - on top of the familiar face - I know how to handle anyone who may not know me from 25 years of coming here. Lots of new guests arrived Friday so it was interesting watching the vendors swarm them yesterday on the beach. I should narrow that to jet ski vendors. The food/fruit/jewelry/CD vendors were all fine. Now it makes me wonder if it's mostly the aggressive young guys who won't take no for an answer.

When I brought a newbie friend a few years ago, she was a target - & a sucker - whenever she'd walk on the beach w/out me. She had been advised of what to expect & how to handle it but did not do a good job of it. I think newbies being unsure of how to handle themselves often contributes to their higgler frustration. It sounds though like Plain Jane was prepared. I still don't understand why a no thank you works for a seasoned longtimer but not for a newbie.