Dear Editor,

I might be a little late, and my pebbles may cause nary a ripple in the lake of public opinion, but the Chris Gayle issue weighs heavily on my mind.

An international sporting star, a talented and jovial young man, makes “a pass” at a female reporter and the ensuing debate rents the moral fabric of our nation. Was his comment grossly inappropriate or was he just being “friendly”? It is quite plausible that he was just being friendly — a personality reflex. Can we really hold it against him? It’s just his way.

Does it matter that he is an international icon and cultural ambassador for his country? Maybe not; few people choose to be role models, anyway.

Was his comment appropriate? Probably. After all, he is a hot-blooded male, and she, an endearing female specimen. But where does one draw the line? We are, if nothing else, social creatures in a global environment. It behoves us, therefore, to be aware of and follow social protocol. As we progress socially, we are to become more socially responsible. One social rule we live by is that “there is a time and place for everything”. However, we are not always held accountable for breaches of the social “code”, depending on who we are, who we know, or how many letters follow our signature.

For instance, a white female athlete made a similar pass at a male reporter and was neither reprimanded nor penalised. Since she got away with it, then why are we condemning Chris? Also, our political representatives epitomise socially unacceptable behaviour, especially in Parliament. So, if our elected officials cannot demonstrate the slightest modicum of decency, why are we persecuting the “yute” for this trivial matter after he has done so much for his country? After all “man a man” and he was only flexing his libido like a “true yardie”. I would also suggest that since the country is so steeped in criminality and immorality we may as well join hands and hearts and skip on into oblivion.

So many people get away with worse and worse everyday. What better measuring stick do we need to determine socially appropriate behaviour?

Tonnica McKenis

taltracy@yahoo.com