O see the monstrousness of manWhen he looks out in an ungrateful shape.— Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, III, 2

So full of artless jealousy is guilt,

It spills itself in fearing to be spilt.

— Shakespeare, Hamlet, IV, 5

Ingratitude, or as we call it here, ungratefulness, envy, red eye, jealousy, the green eyed monster, covetousness and spite all make up the mosaic of badmind. All these words and perhaps more can be condensed, compacted, compressed and distilled to form one word — badmind.

Yes siree, badmind is a Jamaican word that sums up all those feelings and emotions, and all around us — in the workplace, personal life, business ventures, romance and friendship — badmind is alive and well.

Sure, people may even say that badmind is a uniquely Jamaican trait, even though other countries may have some of the above feelings. None has what we truly call badmind.

But is badmind a bad thing though, and is it a positive or negative force in our society? Plus, who really suffers from badmind and how does it affect those whom it is inflicted on?

All these and more will be answered, right after we see what these folks had to say about my piece on ‘Harassment’.

Hi Tony,

Let’s take it a step further. Patting a woman on the derriere, stealing a quick kiss, or even accidentally brushing against a woman’s bosom can be considered sexual assault, which may result in the perpetrator being listed as a sex offender and placed on a police watch list. These are the times we now live in where a simple sign of unwanted gesture of affection may send you to jail.

Nathan

New York, USA

Hey Teerob,

I know that many cases of harassment are true, but some women really take it to the ridiculous. I saw where one woman in the USA complained of sexual harassment because her boss called her “Hot chocolate”. Men may now have to ask, “May I kiss you?” “May I unbutton your blouse?” But that, too, could be considered sexual harassment. How unromantic a world we now live in. Bring back the good old days.

NormanBadmind is very real and, perhaps, unique to our shores. Nowhere else have I seen people exhibit that kind of behaviour towards others without any tangible motive except sheer spite and badmind.

Sure, most people have little tinges of jealousy and even mild envy, but the level of badmind that exists here often goes beyond comprehension… unless you’re a Jamaican, then you’d understand.

Badmind is when people see you for what you have achieved or own and wish you ill will, simply because you have it and they don’t. What you have achieved has no bearing on their lives, but just the mere fact that you have it and they don’t is reason for them to exhibit badmind and wish bad things to happen to you. “Mi glad seh him crash him fancy car, him too full of himself.”

I actually saw a lady laugh at her friend when the friend told her how her new car got hit by a taxi. No sympathy, no compassion, but laughed in the face of the woman’s anguish. Sheer badmind.

I also remember many years ago this elderly man who I knew won a portion of money in the Lotto. He was a poor man who lived in a depressed neighbourhood, a community rife with badmind. He thought that he was comfortable among family and friends, but badmind often supersedes friendship and even family.

The people in the area, so filled with badmind and grudgefullness, instead of rejoicing and revelling in the man’s good fortune, turned on him with a vengeance that only vampires could match. They harassed, harangued, hated that man so much that his life became a living hell.

Eventually they burned down his modest board house, forcing him to leave the community. That’s what badmind does. When they were poor and living in squalor they were all fine, but the moment someone appeared to rise above the morass, the bottom feeders, full of badmind, pulled him down to destroy him.

It really is true, misery does love company, and badmind fuels this misery. Now, I must confess that even I have a touch of badmind in me, but only when it comes to sports and school rivalry.

My friends say this about me. As long as Calabar or Wolmer’s are involved in any competition, I want them to lose. I don’t care who they are competing against or what the competition is, I want them to lose.

But I am not alone, for trust me, they feel the same way about us KC people too.

In fact, I would say that there is more badmind hurled towards KC than any other school. People rejoice when KC loses at anything. I have actually heard people say, “KC win too much things all the time”, they must give other schools a chance too.”

Is that not large-scale badmind? I thought success was rewarded, not envied. But that is sport and high school rivalry all good, harmless badmind fun. Where it gets serious is when the badmind is taken to a hateful level and brings pain and anguish to others.

I see this trait a lot in women, where a woman will just take one look at another woman and wish evil on her, simply because she looks good. “Coo pon har, think seh she nice, mek wi set her up.” Sometimes we’ll hear women say, “I can’t stand that girl. she think seh her s…t can make patty.”

Then tragically they wish ill on that person, simply out of badmind. I could understand if what the person does or how they act impacts on the perpetrators, but that’s not the case. They simply dislike her because she looks good.

Now, I know that other cultures have varying degrees of badmind and indeed, it’s even mentioned in the Bible, albeit by a different name — covetousness. “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s ox, his ass, his wife, or his wife’s ass.”

Well, loosely translated. That’s because if someone covets, it can boil over into other crimes, making them do terrible deeds, like stealing that ox, ass, or adultery. But at least that sort of badmind has a semblance of logic to it.

He sees the man’s ass, his ox or his wife and wants them for himself, so he’ll take action. There’s method in the mindness, so it may not really rank as badmind.

The real badmind is when the person sees the man’s ass, ox or wife, doesn’t really want them, but feels that the man shouldn’t have them either. So he destroys them, tells lies on the man’s wife, and wrecks the man’s house.

“Why did he do all those terrible things?” “Badmind.” Badmind keeps people down, for instead of relishing your neighbour’s or friend’s success, you feel bad that they have achieved and you haven’t. So instead of trying to achieve for yourself, you wish that they lose what they have.

Even Admiral Bailey deejayed years ago, “Take yu mind offa mi, take yuh mind offa mi, a nuh me mek yuh nah mek nuh money.” Success breeds badmind, and in the mind of the badminder, “It’s better that we all wallow in misery than one of us succeeds.”

I have to qualify what I said about badmind being uniquely Jamaican, for I saw it exhibited to a great extent when Barak Obama was elected US president.

Some commentators actually went on radio and TV and said that they would prefer to see America fail than President Obama succeed. Envy is also the parent of badmind.

I have this friend who’s married to a much younger woman, much younger. His peers, instead of revelling in the man’s good fortune, constantly harass and berate him about his young pretty wife.

“Hey man, you sure you can manage that young thing at your age? Hahahahaha” “Teerob, is grudge them grudge me and full a badmind why them carrying on so,” he told me.

I’m sure that all of those ageing, greyback, paunchy old men would relish a young pretty wife like my bredrin’s. But instead, badmind fills their craw. I don’t know where this badmind started, but it’s pervasive here.

I have travelled the world extensively and I haven’t seen or encountered it at the level that exists here. Maybe it’s just a part of our culture. All I can say is, if you ever come into some good fortune, move far away, for badmind will infect and affect you.

More time.

seido1@hotmail.com

Footnote: The North Coast Highway is a dream to drive on and is a masterpiece of road engineering. But it can also prove to be a trifle expensive. If you drive an SUV and travel to Ocho Rios and back it can cost you $5,000. That could more than buy lunch or dinner for two. Add gas and vehicle wear and tear, and a trip to Ochi can cost quite a bit. But you can minimise this by starting the trip at Angels instead of Caymanas, then exiting at Moneague and drive through Fern Gully. The roads are still good, you still get lots of highway, and only pay $2,600 round trip. The martial arts family lost two stalwarts — Sabum Harry Chin Hing to illness and Senpai Peter Brooks, tragically. Both were great martial artists and good persons. We shall miss them. RIP Harry and Peter, Taekwon and Osu.