IT is very hard for me to understand the sense of entitlement combined with the total disregard for others that some upper-class Jamaicans seem to have. I live in a complex which has an electronic gate. I have a middle-aged neighbour, who on occasion forgets her remote to open the gate. On these occasions she has been known to literally sit on her horn at the gate — regardless of the hour of the night and in spite of the fact that a functioning telephone entry system is located right next to the gate — until the beleaguered security guard or a traumatised neighbour lets her in. Needless to say there have been many complaints about her behaviour by residents, although it is clear that she is totally unmoved.

A few nights ago, while I was in bed, I heard the honking of a horn at the gate and unleashing of a torrent of expletives. The honking and cursing went on for so long that my husband decided to go outside, have a word with her, and to ultimately let her in so that we could all get some rest. However, he didn’t get that opportunity, because when he approached the gate she immediately started screaming at him and demanding that he open the gate for her, using unimaginably foul language.

On hearing this, he turned around in absolute disgust and walked back into the house, leaving her to her own toxic devices. This is when the true excitement began. She stumbled out of her car and started screaming some of the filthiest things I have ever heard in my life. She was eventually joined by her husband who, all along had been sitting quietly beside her in the car but was undoubtedly outraged by my husband’s refusal to open the gate.

At approximately 10:30 pm in a dark and quiet neighbourhood, the couple, in their 60s, who are parents and possibly grandparents, stood up, mere feet from the home where my children were sleeping, calling my husband by name and screaming things that would put a drunken wharf labourer to shame. One prevalent theme which I found particularly noteworthy was the constant reference to “that African”, “the African man”, etc. This went on for quite some time. Behind the scenes I begged my husband, who is indeed African, not to sink to their level. Interestingly enough, at some point the husband turned on his wife and directed a string of expletives her way, apparently for the purpose of ‘encouraging’ her to get back into the car.

More than anything, this incident forces me to question what it is that would make another human being, just like me, believe that it could ever be acceptable to behave in this way. That gate, that complex, is but a microcosm of our entire community, our Jamaican society. Those people honking at my gate are the people with education, status, and economic power in this island. They have had opportunities and advantages that many of my fellow Jamaicans could only dream of having. They undoubtedly came by many of these advantages by accident of birth. Is the fact that they have these had advantages in a landscape where opportunities are scarce and hard won, enough for them to believe that they are somehow entitled to act without any respect for other people?

What of the “African” references? Could it be possible that in this day and age there is still a class of Jamaicans who feel a connection to a long gone world of swaying canefields and stately plantation houses, so much so that the notion of Africanness immediately connotes subservience? The fact that this African man could dare to expect basic human respect and decency from such an entitled pair was clearly an affront to the order of things in their world. Although much of their behaviour appears to have been brought on by intoxication, it disturbs me to know that such sentiments could lurk in the hearts of those living just a stone’s throw away from my family.

At times like this I must reflect with tremendous gratitude on my own upbringing. I feel such incredible pride in referring to another Jamaican couple of a similar age, as my parents. From the day of my birth they taught me a sense of community, respect for humanity, and an understanding that I am no different from, and no less accountable for my actions than any other person who walks this Earth. I only hope that I can instil these same values in my own children, who mercifully slept peacefully through that hideous display of Jamaican uptown society at its worst.

simpear@gmail.com