Dear Editor,

I recently had a most positive experience that I wish to share with your readers. I had reason to be away from Jamaica for five days and therefore parked my car in the public car park at Norman Manley International Airport during that time. When I returned to Jamaica, I was surprised that the right rear passenger window of my car was covered with a piece of plastic. My initial reaction was one of horror, as I assumed the car had been vandalised, yet someone had taken the trouble to secure the car, at least the inside, from rain. However, when I removed the plastic, I found the window was still intact. I had accidentally left that window rolled down. I was overjoyed with my discovery even if a little annoyed with myself. Not one single item was touched in the car. Still in some degree of pleasant amazement, I asked the lone female car park attendant about the plastic. She calmly and politely advised that my experience was fairly routine: “Sir, people are always forgetting to secure their vehicles properly. When our security do their checks, action is taken to rectify situations similar to yours,” she advised. I was determined to show my appreciation and offered to pay the attendant a contribution to those who so carefully secured my car. Again, calmly and proudly, the attendant declared, “I am sorry, but we are not allowed to accept contributions from our customers. The fact that you are obviously satisfied with our service is quite sufficient!” So, I now publicly say a big “Thank you!” to those responsible for securing my car and once again confirming for me that Jamaica is a place to live and that the majority of us Jamaicans are honourable and are our “brothers’ keeper.” Going forward, I will no longer regard the $600 per day parking fees as a waste of money but instead consider it money well spent!

Colonel Allan Douglas

alldouglas@aol.com