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OK, instead of a story from many years, a story from 3 days ago. No sex in this one. :-)
So, I am in Jamaica visiting my unofficially-adopted pickneys, who are in the Hanover countryside. A while back I had made a promise, "if you work hard and get good grades in school, I will pay for your college education". And, they are doing great, so it's getting to be time to make good on my promise.
[Side note: At first when I visited I used to bring tings for them - clothes, toys, school supplies. Tourists sometimes do that and feel good about "helping". But after watching all those gifts get used/worn-out/mash-up/stolen/whatever, and thinking about it some, I realized that giving *stuff* is not actually of any long-term benefit, and may even be counterproductive (breeds dependency). To truly help someone to a better life, you need to help a person help themself. Hence the idea of encouraging/helping my kids to get educated...]
OK, so back to the main story. So we're in Lucea to open a college savings bank account for the girl, who is now in high school. It's Monday afternoon, and my girl has just gotten out of school where she has the morning shift (yes, they do school in shifts there, because they can't afford enough schools. Long day for the teachers!). She's got all her ID, and I've got my passport and US$1000 cash, and I thought this would be a quick easy errand and then we can get to the beach or something fun...
Well, nuttin in Jamaica is quick or easy! First bank we go to, we wait in their long long line for service, and then when we get to the front they're giving us a real hard time. They want a whole list of stuff from the girl beyond the ID's we've brought, e.g. a letter of reference from her school, etc etc - and this is just to open an account! Heck, in the US, banks are trying to *get* new customers, not chase them away. I tried to argue with the bank lady. "Look, you're not doing *us* favor by letting us deposit money, we're doing *you* a favor" I tell her. Or, I point to their slogan they have posted on their wall "We find a way to make it happen for you" or something like that. "Can you explain to me what that means?" I ask the woman. She doesn't get my point, or maybe just is ignoring me. It's to no avail. Finally we gather up our money and try another bank. We wait in their long line too. The bank lady here, she also wants all kinds of stuff from the girl, letters from her school and whatnot, but she finally lets us open the account if the girl promises to bring all that in later. Then she turns to me. "Who are you?". "I'm her step-dad" I reply. Skeptical look. "We need to photocopy your ID too". OK, so we do that. "Now we need to verify your employment" she says. "Why?" I ask. "We need to know where the money came from." OK, fair enough. I supply my employers name and phone number. "Can I call them now?" she asks. "Well, it's a holiday today" I reply. Another skeptical look. "Labor Day" I explain. She's never heard of it. "OK, is there any other way you can verify your employment?" she asks. "Well, if you have a computer I can log in and access my pay stubs." So, they let me do that. They examine my latest pay stub. "Um, what is this, an annual pay?". "No, every 2 weeks". "Oh". Another skeptical look. She needs to print out the pay stub. OK, so we do that. She goes off with all the stuff to talk with her manager. She comes back. "Satisfied? Can we open the account now?" I ask. Yes, finally. After all this trouble, my step-daughter is almost in tears, poor thing. And I'm annoyed at wasting a whole precious holiday afternoon on this one little errand. But, glad I did it anyway.
Jamaica, no problem! Unless you're actually trying to get something done. Then, big problem. :-)
Irie,
A_J
So, I am in Jamaica visiting my unofficially-adopted pickneys, who are in the Hanover countryside. A while back I had made a promise, "if you work hard and get good grades in school, I will pay for your college education". And, they are doing great, so it's getting to be time to make good on my promise.
[Side note: At first when I visited I used to bring tings for them - clothes, toys, school supplies. Tourists sometimes do that and feel good about "helping". But after watching all those gifts get used/worn-out/mash-up/stolen/whatever, and thinking about it some, I realized that giving *stuff* is not actually of any long-term benefit, and may even be counterproductive (breeds dependency). To truly help someone to a better life, you need to help a person help themself. Hence the idea of encouraging/helping my kids to get educated...]
OK, so back to the main story. So we're in Lucea to open a college savings bank account for the girl, who is now in high school. It's Monday afternoon, and my girl has just gotten out of school where she has the morning shift (yes, they do school in shifts there, because they can't afford enough schools. Long day for the teachers!). She's got all her ID, and I've got my passport and US$1000 cash, and I thought this would be a quick easy errand and then we can get to the beach or something fun...
Well, nuttin in Jamaica is quick or easy! First bank we go to, we wait in their long long line for service, and then when we get to the front they're giving us a real hard time. They want a whole list of stuff from the girl beyond the ID's we've brought, e.g. a letter of reference from her school, etc etc - and this is just to open an account! Heck, in the US, banks are trying to *get* new customers, not chase them away. I tried to argue with the bank lady. "Look, you're not doing *us* favor by letting us deposit money, we're doing *you* a favor" I tell her. Or, I point to their slogan they have posted on their wall "We find a way to make it happen for you" or something like that. "Can you explain to me what that means?" I ask the woman. She doesn't get my point, or maybe just is ignoring me. It's to no avail. Finally we gather up our money and try another bank. We wait in their long line too. The bank lady here, she also wants all kinds of stuff from the girl, letters from her school and whatnot, but she finally lets us open the account if the girl promises to bring all that in later. Then she turns to me. "Who are you?". "I'm her step-dad" I reply. Skeptical look. "We need to photocopy your ID too". OK, so we do that. "Now we need to verify your employment" she says. "Why?" I ask. "We need to know where the money came from." OK, fair enough. I supply my employers name and phone number. "Can I call them now?" she asks. "Well, it's a holiday today" I reply. Another skeptical look. "Labor Day" I explain. She's never heard of it. "OK, is there any other way you can verify your employment?" she asks. "Well, if you have a computer I can log in and access my pay stubs." So, they let me do that. They examine my latest pay stub. "Um, what is this, an annual pay?". "No, every 2 weeks". "Oh". Another skeptical look. She needs to print out the pay stub. OK, so we do that. She goes off with all the stuff to talk with her manager. She comes back. "Satisfied? Can we open the account now?" I ask. Yes, finally. After all this trouble, my step-daughter is almost in tears, poor thing. And I'm annoyed at wasting a whole precious holiday afternoon on this one little errand. But, glad I did it anyway.
Jamaica, no problem! Unless you're actually trying to get something done. Then, big problem. :-)
Irie,
A_J
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