04-19-2019, 10:47 AM
"Now for a culture that seems to base itself on you don't want people to know you business they sure seem to ask a lot of question trying to find out what your business is, where are you from, where are you staying, is this your first visit, etc, etc."
A cultural conundrum, right? The keeping your business to yourself "thing" is about staying safe. You never want anyone to know how much money you have, what you have in your grocery bag (lest they guess at how much money you have based on what is in your grocery bag) - and tourists tend to share "too much" sometimes like how much money they have, what kind of car they drive etc. Jamaicans LISTEN more than they talk. Something I've learned to be VERY valuable in life in general.
As far as the questions that they ask upon meeting you, when you think about it, these are normal questions to a visitor anywhere - I ask them of new people I meet in Jamaica as well as a conversation starter. Uber drivers in San Francisco ask me these questions (even though I've lived in the Bay Area for 35 years, how do they know that, right?). A question I've always found off-putting, again in general, not just in Jamaica is "what do you DO" often meaning, how do you earn your money....and if I feel especially saucy I reply that I'm an international drug smuggler lol. In Jamaica the "where are you staying" question if asked by a Jamaican makes people nervous and I will always advise as OT does, be vague - "up West End way", "down the beach so" etc. More times than not these are conversation starters but safety dictates to never announce where exactly you are staying. I ask people where they are staying and they always answer me - again if I know w the place, we have something more to talk about and if I don't know the place, again - more to talk about in asking them to tell me about it.
It's interesting to navigate cultural waters in this manner anywhere you go. Jamaican culture mashing up with a large tourist industry definitely presents some conundrums at times!
A cultural conundrum, right? The keeping your business to yourself "thing" is about staying safe. You never want anyone to know how much money you have, what you have in your grocery bag (lest they guess at how much money you have based on what is in your grocery bag) - and tourists tend to share "too much" sometimes like how much money they have, what kind of car they drive etc. Jamaicans LISTEN more than they talk. Something I've learned to be VERY valuable in life in general.
As far as the questions that they ask upon meeting you, when you think about it, these are normal questions to a visitor anywhere - I ask them of new people I meet in Jamaica as well as a conversation starter. Uber drivers in San Francisco ask me these questions (even though I've lived in the Bay Area for 35 years, how do they know that, right?). A question I've always found off-putting, again in general, not just in Jamaica is "what do you DO" often meaning, how do you earn your money....and if I feel especially saucy I reply that I'm an international drug smuggler lol. In Jamaica the "where are you staying" question if asked by a Jamaican makes people nervous and I will always advise as OT does, be vague - "up West End way", "down the beach so" etc. More times than not these are conversation starters but safety dictates to never announce where exactly you are staying. I ask people where they are staying and they always answer me - again if I know w the place, we have something more to talk about and if I don't know the place, again - more to talk about in asking them to tell me about it.
It's interesting to navigate cultural waters in this manner anywhere you go. Jamaican culture mashing up with a large tourist industry definitely presents some conundrums at times!