You cannot call it love,

For at your age

The heyday in the blood is tame.

— Shakespeare

That was Hamlet admonishing his mother for her second marriage. See, even in those times they were carrying on about second wives and second husbands. After all, “at your age, the heyday in the blood is tame”. And we all know what the heyday is.

But why should that be an issue; after all, age is just a number, they say?! It all depends, as you have some six-year-olds with the minds of seasoned troupers. Force ripe we call them. Recently I saw this documentary in which young boys in India were being abducted from their villages to be sold as husbands for brides of the same age. These six- and seven-year-olds were married off, with many of them showing a maturity that belied their tender years. How horrible, you may think, depriving them of their childhood!

Aha, but there are others who don’t think so. Men who right here take pleasure in the pleasuring of young girls barely 10 or 12 years old and see nothing wrong with it.

Let’s see what that all about after these responses to my take on ‘Chat patois, Yes’.

Tony,

The patois debate rages on. I am glad that you made the airline pilot reference which perfectly illustrated how we are setting up Jamaicans for failure in the global village. If the populace cannot communicate effectively we will move backwards…rapidly. English is the international language of business in this hemisphere and Spanish is the dominant language. Considering the trade impact of China worldwide, Mandarin is increasingly a necessary skill.

Brian

Teerob,

Interesting article as usual. We here in Jamaica know or are probably aware that our education and justice systems are still tied to the British system from our colonial past. I cannot see why one cannot have the infusion of both the English and patois languages as long as you can be understood. There’s nothing wrong with making patois another of our languages. One doesn’t have to be speaky spokey, just express yourself. Patois has its place.

Paulette

There have been reports in the media and also on social media of how, in certain communities, the area leader or don would just send for a young girl of his choice when he felt she was ripe for the picking. It happens uptown, too, but those men sneak around. How different is that practice from that in India, even though the age of consent here is 16?

So when the question was asked about men dealing with very young women, it made some people chuckle; for the men of 45/50 are not dealing with women of 45/50. This fact brings much distress to ladies who fall into this category, and one young….er middling lady of questionable age, e-mailed me from overseas, stating that she was in a deep depression upon learning this.

Nature is indeed cruel, for the older a man gets is the younger a woman he desires and can get. Hear that, desires and can get. The ‘can get’ are the operative words, as for some reason many men seem to age better than women. Hey, before you start cussing, just look around for the evidence: Women do try, but it’s not natural, and it affects them too.

Of course there are some women who still look great after 50/60. I know a few, but many just can’t cut it. Those who do are the exception to the rule, but I’m talking about the average lady who has seen more than five decades of a hard life. Men are luckier, even though they die earlier. Men in their 40s and 50s can still enter bodybuilding contests. I don’t know of beauty contests for women of that age.

“Just last week someone told me that I looked in my 30s,” one man boasted. People like to hear that sort of thing.

Many guys say, “I now see women my age who I used to drool after in high school and think to myself, ‘Good Lord, what if I had married her, I would now look like I’m her nephew?!’ ”

This view is shared by many men. Some women’s genetic makeup makes them age faster, but for men it’s not so drastic. Young girls still swoon after men in their 40s, 50s, even 60s. Dapper Dan, those men are called. It’s a rare lad who lusts after a woman approaching 70, unless it’s miles per hour. If he does, she is eternally grateful. A man up to 70 can still ‘cut a dash’. We see them all the time, squiring those cute pretty young things. But when last have you seen a woman in her 70s out with a lad of 25? If you do, it makes you do a double take or assume that he’s out with his teacher or some relative.

Sex is based on a number of factors, the first being physical attraction. Knowing your age is a crucial factor in that equation. For example, put 10 men in their late 40s at a location like a nightclub, then put 10 women of the same age beside them. Let some young girls and young men of say age 25 walk in and see who they gravitate to. I guarantee that most of the men will be taken, while their female counterparts will be left nursing their drinks at the bar. If perchance a woman that age is chosen, she will be so grateful that the young man would have the time of his life.

“Man, I never know say dem old ting so wild?” Heightened sexuality, enhanced by gratitude. I don’t see ladies of the night who’re in their 60s, but the men who lease them are that age and beyond.

Ladies, if he’s still with you and desires you, give thanks and count yourself lucky to have a good man. But bear in mind that chances are he might steal a little love on the side now and again, or at least think about it. Hey, conscience and fear makes cowards of us all, it’s said, but so a man thinketh, he doeth, and many lust in their hearts, and lust is not age-related. You can be assured, though, that if he does, it certainly won’t be with any of your Kiwanis or Rotary or Soroptomist club friends.

He’ll look more towards the ‘just-left-high-school posse’. And don’t for one minute think that it’s the men who pursue those young girls either. In many cases you can’t tell prey from predator, as those young girls stalk, pursue, run down, and snare those men. Many older men nowadays have a story of how young girls give them the eye and that ‘come hither’ look. “Eye you say, it’s more like ENT treatment, eye, nose and tongue.”

“My word, I have had my fair share of close encounters of the young kind, and if I wasn’t a strong, sturdy, proper gentleman with good moral fibre, home training, and church upbringing, I too would fall prey.”

We see it in the papers every day, and we say how wicked these men are, but some were fooled, and the flesh is weak. Men have seen and spoken to some females and when they find out their ages they freak out.

“Seventeen? What are you saying to me, you’re only 17?”

People, they look, talk, and act with the maturity, grace, skill, and poise of a geisha. No wonder some unsuspecting men of age 45 or 50 are bewitched, beguiled, bewildered, befuddled by these buxom beauties.They can fool anybody, and the common plea is, “Your Honour, I coulda swear that she was 22.” Still, there are some men who really don’t care.

I simply do not see young boys of 17, 20, or 25 having the hots for a honey in her 70s, no matter what her station in life. I can visualise a man of 70 in bed with a woman in her late 20s. I can close my eyes and see them both naked. I cannot in a thousand years conjure up the image of a man in his late teens in bed naked with a woman 70 years old. There you go again, saying that I’m unkind, but blame it on nature; it’s just the natural order of things.

So, ‘tis true, in many cases age is just a number, and even though mathematically, 25 can go into 55, but 50 can’t go into 25, the new maths says differently. As Shakespeare said, “Age I do abhor thee; youth I do adore thee.” Aye, and there’s the rub, more time.

seido1yard@gmail.com

Footnote: World Cup fever is at fever pitch, and even as I write this the knockout stage of the Round of 32 is just about starting. I write one week in advance. Now is when the real war begins, as it’s win or go home. Many tears will be shed, and much joy and delight felt, depending on who wins and who loses. What I’ve noticed in the opening rounds, though, are the questionable calls by some referees when it comes to the so-called smaller nations. Penalties aren’t awarded when the evidence shows otherwise, yet fouls are called for innocuous contact. It almost always goes against the smaller footballing nations. That’s why one leading international coach said, “There’s a special place in hell for some referees.” Watch for yourself and enjoy the spectacle. Also, why are most teams wearing pink, red or purple boots? What next, parasols and handbags?