No ‘kin teet’ country

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Maybe one of Jamaicans’ greatest impediments is to take joke and make joke. Jamaicans in general are not disposed to the ‘kin teet’ business. And, if a man suspects but is unable to ascertain whether he was disrespected by someone, he will tirelessly endeavour to prove whether disrespect actually occurred, so that the deserving justice may be measured out to the guilty.

Which justice may often take the form of a man loosing his right arm to a wielding machete because he unceremoniously blocked the traffic and detained his engaged adversary in the line, or his life, because he returned some venomous bellows of expletives.

The stoic unbending nature that people exhibit may account for a majority of the senseless murders that make the news daily. Tell a man about a certain family member who the abuser knows nothing about and the offended party will swiftly resort to extensive and overreaching responses. Jamaicans do not laugh at themselves. And, even when a native allows himself to give jokes, his jokes are often the militant exterior type that keeps his need to be tough inside intact.

I remember asking a guy for direction in Half-Way Tree, he pointed out the direction to me. I then asked “Are you sure?” He looked at me with a grim, stern feature showing visible upset and replied “A how yu meen ef man sure! How yu fi com a ask big man ef dem sure ?”

I apologised, but he would not be swayed from his emotion as he walked away riveted in anger. Maybe, if people were less serious about themselves, the need to be serious would find its rightful place while lessening the consequences of unessential seriousness.

HOMER SYLVESTER

Elmsford, New York