Author: Kelly McIntosh

…about Pets!

So Little Master has a thing for animals.  Let me confess: if I could live my life without a single pet I’d be fine…that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.  We used to have 2 dogs.  One died and Dad got custody of the second one.  I really did not put up a fight.  Although, when he (the dog that is!) passed a few months ago, I have to confess, I felt a moment of sadness.  That dog was born when we were breeding dogs to raise cash to build our house.  He was the dog that my fearless toddler used to harass.  
R.I.P. Lion


Perhaps my apparent antipathy towards pets is really a (sub)conscious attempt to mask and subdue pretty strong emotions deep, deep down when it comes to animals and their lot in life.  I remember when I was in primary school, at about age 9, I saw a group of boys huddled together, shouting excitedly and my utter dismay when I realized that the object of their animation was an injured bird.  So there I was, horrified and totally torn up in the face of the suffering of this poor birdie.  I shouted and rushed in with one single aim: to rescue the bird.  I scooped it up while bawling and marched to my classroom cradling Birdie with the stupid, shouting hoard behind me.  Thank God my teacher was on my side and I was allowed to take it home.  I placed it in an empty chicken coop (we had layers, broilers, goats, bees,  rabbits, dogs and cats!) and nursed it back to health for a few days.  I happily set him free once I realized he was good to go.  I also remember when my dog Polly was hit by a car and succumbed to her injuries.  I grieved for that dog.

Anyways, I reluctantly agreed that Little Master should get a hamster for Christmas.  Sigh.  He already has a pet-the ideal pet in my view!- a little turtle.  No noise, no running up and down, low maintenance.  Sweet.  
 
The ideal pet: Low Maintenance Turtle


So Harry joins the family (be sure to say “Harry” with a British accent please…Little Master’s dictate of course).  Harry is a rat…damn.  He is scary.  Ugh.  Look at his toes!  Look at his beady black eyes!  Have you ever held him?  Have you felt how soft his fine, little bones are?  But, because I am absolutely in love with Little Master, I help in the cage cleaning and the feeding.  And, yes, I’ll confess, Little Master has caught me on more than one occasion sitting in front of Harry’s cage watching his feeding, drinking and playing habits. 

So earlier this week I was in the kitchen preparing lunches and making breakfast when something caught the corner of my eye.  No way!, I thought…a white furry rat on the ground in my kitchen?  Oh hell!  HARRY IS LOOSE!  So there I was at 5:30am shouting to I really don’t know whom: “ HARRY IS LOOSE!  THE HAMSTER IS OUT OF HIS CAGE!”

To my eternal credit though, I switched into Wonder Woman mode very quickly.  I grabbed the green bucket and cornered Harry who looked totally bewildered, by the way.  I covered him and got his cage.  Somehow, his climbing tube had come apart in one place and the little creature had squeezed out.  I then re-set his cage and tubes and opened it up to receive its tenant once again.  I held that little rattus and placed him back in, none too gently I must confess, as even with gloved hands, it still freaks me out tremendously to handle Harry.  My sigh of relief that Harry had not gone AWOL in the house was very quickly replaced with a sudden startling revelation: Harry was hanging out by a rat poison block I had placed in a corner of the kitchen!  Lord have mercy! Did he eat any?  Would he be ok?  By this time, Little Master was up and I was brutally honest with him: we could come home to a dead Harry in the afternoon.  We hoped and prayed (yes I did!) and we were on Harry Watch for the next 24 hours.  If Harry was too quiet, we prodded him out of his little house and cheered as we watched him forage and feed and run.  Poor Harry.  He had very little rest as we sought to assure ourselves that he would live.  Today Harry is as energetic as he ever was, much to Little Master’s joy.  And yes, I’m glad too.
Harry!



Drink up, Harry



De-stressing in Jamaica

To say that the last 2 weeks have been stressful is an understatement.  So, not one to wallow in unhappiness and stress and strain, I hastily planned a weekend doing some of the things I enjoy best!  The yells of joy when I informed Little Master and Miss World confirmed that I had made the right decision.

ROAD TRIP!  Yep, I absolutely love a good drive out, and the state of our roads notwithstanding, the Jamaican countryside is soooooo beautiful. I decided to head west to my all time favourite place on the island: Negril.  Here’s the thing about Negril: that 7 mile stretch of white sand and clear, blue water and the absence of the more commercial, high-rise complexes and the way Jamaicans and tourists quietly co-exist make Negril’s vibe relaxing and therapeutic.  There is never loud music offending you, but always the quiet, low throbbing of a comfortingly familiar reggae beat, gently lulling your soul into a state of rest.  The beaches are shallow and waters calm, allowing for children to frolic safely and allowing you to paddle and soak and just be.  And when the sun sets, there are no words.  The beach comes to a standstill for a few minutes while everyone basks in the awesome sight of the sun dipping below the horizon. Negril sunsets never, ever get old.

Negril Sunset

 I have been staying at a modest hotel right on the beach for the last decade or so called Negril Treehouse Hotel.  This is where Stella got her groove back!  Well, before she discovered that her groover was bisexual/gay/whadeva…Oh well, Stella aside, I ALWAYS enjoy my stays there.  The rooms are modestly priced and modestly outfitted.  But really and truly, when you are in Negril, you really only need the room to shower and sleep. All waking hours are best spent on the sand which is literally footsteps away from your room.  I walk with my igloo and my beverages of choice (woohoo!!!!) and set up camp under a huge almond tree and happily pass the hours away there.  Negril Treehouse is owned by the Jacksons (Mr. Jackson passed away late last year…may he rest in peace) and you can feel the impact of these owners/managers throughout your stay.  There’s a real family feel there.

But before I got to Negril, I had to drive four hours to get there from Kingston.  We departed at 6:30am, a cool, clear Saturday morning.  It was an uneventful, enjoyable drive.  The ubiquitous speed traps were largely absent and the radio station of choice was on point with their selections.  We enjoyed lots joking and laughter and singing and even some quiet time as at one stage I was the only one awake! 

   Bamboo Avenue, St. Elizabeth

                                                   
I decided to stop in Middle Quarters for “peppa swims” (read: peppered shrimp).  The shrimp are prepared in the shell with lots of salt and a whole heap of hot pepper, stuffed into small plastic bags and sold by the roadside.

 Eating the spicy treats was an adventure, but being the prepared traveller that I am, bottles of Catherine’s Peak spring water were quickly deployed to deal with the burning!  Apart from the spice, beware the spiny claws and other appendages on the shrimp.  They stick…hard!

    Peppered Shrimp from Middle Quarters


Negril was just what the Doctor ordered…the kids played, I relaxed, I napped and I really enjoyed having what I thought was great conversation with Rachie and it was just, well…perfect…

Negril Tree House

I should mention that Negril Tree House serves a great breakfast that is included in the cost of the room!



 Callaloo, ackee & saltfish, johnny cakes, ham & cheese omelette and pineapple

          
Yes…it was a well needed break.  Sometimes you just need to put down the load for a while, regain some strength and then you can take it up again once you’ve rested a while.  I put down my load this weekend for sure!



   The view from between my legs 🙂

                                                
Reluctantly, we packed up midday Sunday morning.  Sigh…back to life, back to reality. Cho man…
It was a great day for driving and at Miss World’s request, I decided to drive back via the North Coast.  That’s a 5 hour hop!

Road Warriors on the move

We stopped for cold coconut water in Trelawny and for soup at Scotchie’s in Drax Hall. 

Thank God for a moment of fun in the middle of living.  Tomorrow is another day.  And we will continue the struggle having rested a while.  “Strength  for today and bright hope for tomorrow”.

                           

“Yes, Minister!”

Yesterday they were part of motorcades and parades and mass fetes…fists pumping, hands waving, gyrating to the tunes selected by the talented DJs presiding over the proceedings at the various political rallies all over the island.  They lauded their leaders.  They lambasted their opponents.  They promised the world.  Oftentimes, their tone and language was geared to the masses.  These rallies where we saw them shine were in the main long on emotion and short on substance. 

Then V Day (voting day) came and went.  A week or so after V Day, the party which won most of the island’s 63 seats had their own party leader “crowned” Prime Minister.  She then looked to those of her membership who had been victorious, contributing therefore to her own ascendancy, and selected her management team.  In this instance, she selected 20 senior managers, if you will.  She “restructured” the government…and I say “restructured” tongue in cheek, because what we’ve seen so far is to my mind, a re-naming of portfolios.  I have to wait and see the functions and outworkings of the governments are actually aligned to these new names before I hug up this “restructuring”.  Even in my own professional experience I’ve seen critical functions undergo grand renaming exercises under the guise of “restructuring” and the key performance indicators show little improvement.  What’s the point!

Some people had issue with the size of her management team.  To be truthful, that did not bother me. I am more interested in the output than the size. 

I remain wary, however, of the role of the Minister and what qualifies him/her to be there!  The Minister, I believe, is supposed to be responsible for crafting policy, articulating a vision for the function and managing the resources of the state such that sustainable development is the end product of their efforts.  Can these people actually do that?  Do they even know where to begin?  Where did they learn their craft?  Yesterday they were pandering to the lowest common denominator and today they are senior visionaries and administrators?  I suppose that’s why God created Permanent Secretaries.  They’re supposed to be the technically sound experienced administrators…But in every relationship it makes sense to identify the power balance early on.  So let’s see: Permanent Secretary and Minister…hmmm…where does the power actually lie?  So who will therefore influence outcome?

I think I will call my brethren Lee Kwan Yew later this morning.  He seems to have gotten it right somehow.  Yes, yes, yes…he made us a tad bit uncomfortable in the way he seemed to embrace a sort of bureaucratic elitism and kind of played roughshod with our ingrained notions of the (grand) “rights of the individual” (we sometimes ignore the (grander?) rights of the society!).  Ideologies and philosophical debates aside, Singapore has a pretty good track record and I think just maybe, we can learn a little something about public policy, public administration and working effectively from my pal Lee.  We should be so lucky.

Let us track performance against what they promised (refer to the Manifesto and the Progressive Agenda).  If it’s too onerous to track all 20, choose 3 key ones and follow up. Write, speak out and question when their own KPIs are off track.

People Power indeed.

Mama P tun it up! I feel like a vegan at a jerk festival.

As I read the Daily Gleaner of Jan 18 (just this morning), an article caught my eye…”Mama P Tun it Up”. Supporters of the HPM Portia Simpson-Miller heralded her entry into Parliament as our newest Prime Minister with chants of “Mama P, wi love yuh!” over and over again.  I couldn’t help but remember a letter that I wrote to the Gleaner back in 2007 which they published.  Here’s what I said then:
‘Mama’ vote not the way
published: Thursday | July 19, 2007


The Editor, Sir:
I am deeply offended by the Prime Minister presenting herself to the citizens of Jamaica as ‘Mama’. To suggest to us that we should vote for her, that we should vote for any one of the 60 candidates of her party, because “a vote for them, is a vote for Portia”, is an insult to our intelligence as a people.
Jamaica needs a leader who very clearly understands, and indeed demonstrates, that he or she understands what the role of the state is. The role of the state, simply put, is to create conditions that facilitate economic growth, to create conditions where it is difficult for crime to flourish, and to protect those in society unable to protect themselves. If the Government succeeds in doing these things, then we will not need anyone to hug us, to kiss us, to rub our heads and tell us ‘not to worry because Mama is in control’.
Jamaica needs a leader who will inspire its citizens to get up and determine our own destinies. This culture of patronage, that the styling of our leader as ‘Mama’ exemplifies, will keep us as a people mired in dependency and continue to give relevancy to dons and politicians, who think that giving out cash and kind is enough for us to entrust them with positions of public leadership.
We demand more.
I am, etc.,
KELLY McINTOSH
Fast forward to Jan 17, 2012…so much for my stridency back then!  Who was I to be categorically stating what Jamaica needs.  On Dec 29, 2011, the majority of voters decided definitively.  And yesterday  
they underscored their choice with their very vocal and adoring salutations and congratulations directed at their very own Mama P.
I feel like a vegan at a jerk festival.

A few Life Lessons

I don’t aim to be preachy.  I’ve been through some tough and painful times and I’ve thankfully been able to extract some key learnings that continue to serve me through the highs and the lows of this thing called life. I’d like to share three truths, lessons, learnings…whatever you want to call them.  So here goes.

GOOD FRIEN’ BETTA DAN POCKET MONEY (it’s better to have a good friend than a fistful of cash)
Oh.. this is so true!  I remember some pretty dark times when the 7:30am call from one particular girlfriend every single day over a few months, to test my emotional temperature, is what sustained me.  She listened to me cry, she commisterated with me, she offered help.  I remember after work drinks with girlfriends who listened and shared and supported.  I remember calls from my flesh and blood sister at just the right times, with words of comfort and faith and support and love.  We laughed, we cried, we cussed.  And after all was said and done, I came out on the other side with my friends’ support and love. 

SELF FORGIVENESS CREATES THE CAPACITY TO FORGIVE AND LOVE
“Be gentle with yourself” is one of the best pieces of advice I ever got.  Face up to your mistakes and missteps.  Accept responsibility.  Make ammends.  And then offer grace to yourself. 

BE KIND 
I know what it feels like to want a kind word.  A sympathetic ear.  A word of encouragement. Some tangible assistance.  And I know the difference it made when I received them.  So I would like to believe that I’ve become a kinder person.  Everybody has their own story.  You may never know what someone is going through.  There are people working with you and people who cross your path as you go about your life that have experienced heartbreak, hurt, rejection and loss.  Sometimes a kind greeting or a sympathetic ear may be all that it takes for them to keep on keeping on.  Bring to mind the times when you were on the receiving end of an act of kindness and resolve to pay it forward.  Resolve to be more understanding and tolerant.  Demonstrate kindness at least once per day.  Volunteer to help those less fortunate than yourselves.  Be kind to those close to you and be sensitive to their feelings.

Have a great week!

Who says low-carb has to be boring?

So on a Sunday, I really throw down, in my kitchen. I plan my menu days in advance.  Then round about noon I turn the radio dial to Fame 95 (retro…what else?!), fill a glass with ice cubes, add some rum and COOK!  On any given Sunday I pull from the following items: braised ox-tails, baked chicken, curried shrimp, pot roasts of beef or pork, rice and peas, sitr fried veg, mac and cheese, fried rice, chow mein, baked plantains, garden salad…

But I’ve decided to go low-carb  for a while, to reset my body and mind, so…sigh…gotta find a way to keep the fun in Sundays.  So instead of rum, we do water.  Yup.  Water and a lot of ice.  And I still blast my retro tunes.  And here’s what today’s fare looked like:

I call it “Smothered Chicken with Steamed Veggies”.

The steamed veggies are simply broccoli and cauliflower steamed with garlic, parsley and basil and finished with butter (salted of course).  Yum!

Here’s the main event:

4 chicken breasts
1 onion
2 stalks celery
1 cup coarsely cut button mushrooms
1 medium tomato
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small sweet pepper
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Flatten the chicken breasts.  Wash with lime juice and season with salt, pepper, jerk-flavoured hot sauce, soya sauce and let marinate overnight.

Heat 2 tbsp veg oil in a non-stick frying pan and quickly sear the chicken on both sides.  It should be just brown and the entire browning process should not take more than 3 min all told.

Remove from frying pan and place the pieces of chicken a flat baking sheet and allow to rest.

Chop all seasonings (onion, celery, tomato, garlic and sweet pepper) and add to the same pan you used to brown the chicken.  Saute for 2 min.  Add the mushooms and a pinch of salt and stir for another minute.

Turn on your broiler.

Spoon equal amounts of this mixture on to each piece of chicken breast already on the baking sheet.

Sprinkle equal amounts of cheese over the dressed chicken pieces and  place the dressed and cheesed chicken breasts on the baking sheet under the broiler.

Broil for approximately 5 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and just turning brown.

Remove and let rest for 3 minutes.

Serve hot with veggies.

Now…who says low-carb has to be boring? 😀

My take on New Year Resolutions

So 2012 is upon us.  I love the idea of a New Year.  I use the opportunity to review the year past and anticipate the year coming.  And yes, I make New Year’s resolutions.  I also make New Year wishes.  I have never gotten everything that I have wished for, neither have I ever kept all my resolutions.  But I have over the years kept some of my resolutions and gotten some of what I have wished for.
I didn’t even need to wait until the end of 2011 to conclude that, all in all, it was a pretty good year for me!  I saw my children mature and do well in school.  I have a passion for teaching, and despite sending my resumes hither thither and yon, I ended up, almost overnight it seemed, teaching for a term at an institution that I hadn’t applied to!  That was a fun and fulfilling experience.  I did pretty well on my nine to five too, hitting pretty much all my targets and seeing my team execute (almost!) flawlessly. And last but certainly not least, I finally ditched some major emotional baggage.  I forgave myself for some wrong moves that I had made in the past and in so doing, freed myself to give and receive forgiveness. I thank God for who I am.
So in starting 2012, I have a few wishes.  Not going to articulate them here…might jinx them!  My resolutions are not dramatic, but significant to me and as I progress, I will add to them and modify them as necessary.  That’s low stress resolution making for you, and I highly recommend it. 
I’ve decided to revert to a low-carb lifestyle.  I know a lot of people get very nervous when they hear low- carb, but I’ve done it before and every single thing about my health improved.  So here we go again.  I will end up losing weight, controlling hormone balances, stabilizing my moods and improving overall well-being.  So far, so good- all seven days of 2012!
I’ve also resolved to review my blessings at the end of each day.  How this became a resolution is a story in and of itself.  Let me back up and start at the beginning of this one.  I had remarked aloud that I was going to start a low-carb diet.  Marcelle, my colleague on the other side of the divide in our workspace, chimed in that she was planning to do likewise.  We began sharing our carb-loving weaknesses, and I confessed that besides rice (oh blessed glorious any kind of rice!) I was fond of munching on salty, crunchy snacks late at night in bed.  She suggested that I replace that habit with an herbal tea habit!  Now I am not a tea drinker, but the way Marcelle suggested it totally intrigued me.  She suggested that I make a ritual of it: get a nice kettle, special mug and create a ceremony of sorts.  I thought: why not? So I went looking for caffeine-free, herbal teas and found a great item!  It’s a sampler box of fruity, herbal teas…great for a beginner like me who has no idea of what she likes.  I started and reported back gleefully to Marcelle.  It really is a very soothing and calming thing, this tea making a drinking last thing at night.  My ex-husband used to enjoy a cup of tea before bed, and used to beg me to make it for him.  I did not. Too much of a production, I thought at the time.  Now I know.  I told Marcelle the irony of the tea making and a few days later, she came to my desk and said: “Let’s talk”.  That was kinda unusual based on our normal type of interaction. I nonetheless replied in surprise: “Sure!  Why not!”  She asked me if I had ever read “Love Languages”.  I replied in the affirmative and said that It is a must read for all people, especially those planning to marry.  Had I read it before I got married, I may still have been married today.  The book teaches you how to understand your spouse and how to make yourself understood.  Great book and I highly recommend it.  That lead to me recommending a related book also written by Gary Chapman: “The Five Languages of Apology”.  That book showed me that I needed to forgive myself and taught me how to.  My colleague seemed genuinely interested in my story of self-forgiveness and she also seemed happy for me.  We concluded our talk and we went our separate ways.
A few days later, Marcelle came to my desk again and said that she had a gift for me if I would accept.  She showed me a book where each day had a tiny space allotted for listing the things that I am grateful for.  She explained that she figured it would be a great addition to my tea ritual.  I slowly saw the sense of what she was recommending. There’s a line in one of my favourite movies, “The Matrix” that speaks about how we as human beings “define ourselves by our misery”.  So true!  I warmed to the idea of ending each day focusing on all that was good in my life.  So this past Thursday, I added articulating my gratitude to my tea ritual at the end of each day.  My children are now in on the tea drinking ritual and the gratitude giving.  To be honest, I had hoped for this to be my thing. But how can I exclude them from something that gives us another opportunity to bond and will hopefully create for them a tradition that they will carry on as they move forward with their own lives?
So there you have it: eating differently, deliberately winding down each night and giving thanks at the end of each day. Like I said, my resolutions this year are not dramatic and I will add and alter as necessary throughout 2012. I think I’m off to a pretty good start.

Winners and Losers from the JLP Dec. 2011 Election Campaign

The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) lost to the People’s National Party (PNP) in the recent National polls here in Jamaica.  The following are who I consider to be the winners and losers in the campaign leading up to the elections.

LOSERS

G2K: Generation 2000, or G2K, the youth affiliate arm of the JLP, lost much of the shock and awe factor they displayed in the 2007 elections.  This time around, their predominant message was about how wrong the leader of the the then opposition was for the role of Prime Minister.  The adverts were cleverly put together, complete with sound effects and made for more than a few laughs, I have to confess (watch one of said adverts here).  Mrs. Simpson-Miller was portrayed as loud, war-like and lacking any ability to speak convincingly in public.  But were they able to garner votes for the JLP?  I don’t think so. Perhaps, the adverts were even seen as insults coming from a group of youngsters who could be her children! Mrs. Simpson-Miller, Mama P to her supporters, has been a public servant and a former Prime Minister in what can be described as a matriarchal society, one where the postion of mother is revered.  It is not inconceivable to me that the JLP probably lost votes in their relentless attack on the lady and the absence of a clear message of what the JLP has accomplished and would accomplish given the chance.

I sincerely hope that the G2K honestly assesses their role in the last election, with the input of objective outsiders. If the present leadership of the organisation has to be changed, so let it be.  It is certainly worth considering.

Daryl Vaz: Mr. Vaz, mere days before the elections, stood on a platform and declared words to the effect that there were a number of civil servants who were holding back the progress of the government and that they would be rooted out once the JLP was returned to power.  I don’t think threats to a huge voting group who were already in fear of losing their jobs under a JLP administration was the best way of garnering support.  It probably also turned off voters who were not even civil servants.

Performers who lost their seats: Christopher Tufton and Bobby Montague come to mind. They demonstrated a can-do approach to their work at the national level.  This obviously was not seen in their constituencies and they lost their seats in Parliament. I hope they remain in politics. It is in Jamaica’s best interest to have a vibrant and functional Opposition, and I believe these two men have more to offer.

Andrew Holness: Mr. Holness, I honestly believe, has a good grasp on the challenges facing Jamaica.  I also am convinced of his sincerity in wanting to address them and see Jamaica prosper. Having said that, the results of the recent election clearly show that Mr. Holness failed to fire up and inspire his own base, and indeed the wider electorate. A great leader is able to articulate a vision and sell that vision to his people and get buy in and participation. He failed to do so. To the extent that his intentions were misaligned with the results (his party was soundly whipped), I have to declare him a loser. In the shadow of his defeat, I really hope that Mr. Holness, regardless of the forces that pushed him to the top of the ladder in the JLP, will now dig deep and find a way to reshape and reposition the party. It will take determination, a vision, focus, wisdom and strength of character to do this. I would like to see more of Mr. Holness in the future. If not as team leader, certainly, a team member.

WINNERS

Kamina Johnson-Smith: This young lady, a former senator, came out of the woodwork and impressed tremendously.  She was part of the JLP manifesto team and therefore secured for herself and her party quite a bit of air-time. As she did the talk-show rounds, she proved that she had a real grasp on the issues. She was an excellent communicator.  She demonstrated a perfect blend of agression and passion without being offensive. I remember seeing her go head to head with bright, young, Julian Robinson of the PNP.  She made him look positively ordinary in that particular interaction! I hope to see way more of Mrs. Johnson-Smith in the future.

The JLP Manifesto: This beautifully produced document clearly outlined successes and plans as per the JLP.  It failed to sell the JLP to the electorate, but the facts therein are indisputable.

These are my opinions. God Bless Jamaica.

Being right isn’t enough

Happy 2012!

Here in Jamaica, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) just lost their bid to remain government for the next 4-5 years.  By all accounts (polls and general sentiment amongst my peerage) the results were going to be close.  But methinks no one saw it coming…the People’s National Party (PNP) won the December 2011 election in fine form, winning 41 seats out of a possible 63; the JLP winning 22. The process itself worked…no one has cried foul with respect to the proceedings on Dec 29. I cast my own vote in under 5 min. So how could so many people have gotten in wrong? Here are my own thoughts on the issue. And as they say, hindsight is always 20/20.

Your decision making platform is directly related to your circumstance.  So someone with adequate resources at their disposal will process options differently from someone scrambling to have their basic needs met.  I believe that the JLP was doing well given the context of the Jamaican and indeed, world economy.  Of course, that was from my personal vantage point. I was able to eat well, pay my bills, take modest vacations on the island, live debt free, school my kids, I was gainfully employed and I was even able to save a little.  So when faced with missteps that the JLP had made during their term like the mishandling of an extradition request for a known JLP strong man and the resultant chaos and loss of life that this mishandling caused…the mishandling of significant funds that were to be used to fix and build out our roads…the innuendo around the integrity of key players of their administration, I was prepared to overlook the deficiencies in the administration for what I termed “the greater good of managing the economy”.
I suppose the JLP was banking on the majority of persons processing in the same way that I was.

Here’s the thing: the number of people living below the poverty line in the island had increased. 

The JLP displayed no empathy for the growing number of people that were finding it increasingly difficult to have their daily needs met.  They set out their equations and the numbers looked right.  But those equations ignored one critical variable: human emotions.  Jamaicans have very clear notions of what disrespect looks like and they reject disrespect very quickly and very definitively. In addition to what the masses perceived as disrespect from the JLP, their ability and willingness to do what I did in overlooking the “missteps” was severely impacted by the awful reality of their lives. They simply did not possess the space to appreciate macro-economic variables being aligned correctly when mounting bills, lack of food, absence of jobs and a rapidly declining standard of living were what they looked at each and every day.

So along came the PNP with declarations of love and promises of jobs in the form of JEEP and clearly articulated understanding of the plight of the people. Love and understanding mean nothing to those of us who are relatively comfortable. But to a drowning man, it appeared a better proposition to the alternative: a regime of suffering and the absence of empathy. Hence, the majority made their decision based on their context and not based on the equations handed out by the JLP or the track record of the PNP for the 18 years they were in power prior to the outgoing JLP administration. The space to make decisions after thorough analysis simply does not exist in Jamaica’s context of poverty, and the JLP ignored, to their downfall, the Jamaican psyche. Thus, they did not frame their communications appropriately. They did not work the communities effectively. Instead of being focused only on what was “right” in terms of managing the economy, they should have placed equal focus on getting buy-in from the Jamaicans who put them there to serve.

Subsequent posts will explore the benefits of a strong Opposition, the JLP’s next steps and hope for Jamaica.