Who Taught Them? No One! - Lois Grant.

Lois Grant

I hear so many people complaining about poor customer service. the ingratitude, the 'beggy beggy attitude' and the 'tek fe granted' attitude of some  Jamaicans at home.

The complaints about the ingratitude of Jamaicans at home when you send them money or gifts are all over Tik Tok... No one says thanks. It's a feeling of entitlement..as if you owe them and you are expected to send them money, send them a barrel with food and all the things they desire. They even have the audacity to stipulate what foods or items  you must not send. After all, you live a foreign and money come easy or so they think.

No matter how many times you tell them how hard it is and how much bills you have to pay, their attitude is. things can never be as hard for you there as it is for us here.

So Jamaicans living abroad have learned that one of the ways to escape these pressures, when you visit Jamaica, is to stay at an AirBnB or one of those all-inclusive hotels. And don't tell them you are coming because the begging will never stop and your suitcase can never hold the things you are required to take. That way you limit how much you need to interact with your family here because if not by the time you leave to return home, not even the shoes on your feet or the clothes on your back,  will be yours Not to mention your phone.

But I've been asking the question,... who taught these people  who grew up in the inner-city and whose parents themselves were never taught, never exposed to certain lifestyles and certain habits.? Who taught them to say  'Thank You'? ..Who taught them that it's OK to open a door for a woman and to offer them a drink when you go out.?

For some people who have lived abroad their socialization does not extend beyond the same group of people they lived amongst in their inner-city communities back in Jamaica. They go to the same functions, mix with the same people, never taking time out to interact with other groups and to expose themselves to other cultures and so they never change.

Some return home and set up businesses because they have a few dollars. and they carry the same crass, crude behaviour with them. But seriously, who taught them? Will things ever change?. Do they even care to change.? They think their money can buy them class and position,. But as the late Rex Nettleford said.. a bhutto in a benz..is still a bhutto'. Dont chastise me now..! lol

Editors Note:

Ms Lois Grant- JP, MA, BA.(Hons) Dip Mass Comm, Cert. Broadcast Journalism BBC-London. Lois Grant's involvement in the communications and creative industry began in the newsroom at the now-defunct  Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) . She then went on to head the  Public Relations unit, at the now-defunct Grimax Advertising. From there, Grant went into partnership with the creation of the  Promotions/Production agency.. Innercity  Promotions.  Innercity was responsible for the creation of the live dance hall series of concerts at the Harbour View and New Kingston Drive-in cinemas... the firsts in the history of entertainment in Jamaica. At the start of the '90s Grant formed her own agency under the banner, Corporate Image Communications and Productions. She stood out as a trailblazer in developing several innovative events as well as programmes for corporate brands such as  Tastee Limited,  Jamaica National Building Society, City of Kingston Cooperative Credit Union, and various government agencies. Looking back Grant notes that she has played her role in changing the political landscape of three Caribbean islands, including Jamaica. Her last assignment before taking early retirement, saw her as the Director of Communications in the Office of the Prime Minister of Jamaica from 2007-early 2013.

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