Life and Debt - Maggie Varga

While watching Life and Debt I was definitely shocked to see how much the people of Jamaica were struggling behind the scenes of the lavish resorts. The people basically work for nothing, and if that isn't bad enough, many jobs (mostly on the banana plantations) are being taken and given to Asians that are coming in and working for another form of currency. Jamaica is advertised to be a beautiful paradise, but on the inside there is so much depression. My parents went to Jamaica on their honeymoon, and my mother was exposed to some of the poverty. She said it was one of the worst vacations because right outside of her resort she would see all of the homeless men, women, and children. Other vacationers were blind to the fact that you get and umbrella in your drink while a fence over is a child wondering if he would eat tonight. I do know of some people who have visited Jamaica and loved every moment. This makes me wonder where in comparison to my mother they were staying. I'm sure the ones who had a great time were deep into the resort area, where you couldn't see anything except blue water and swimming pools. Jamaica is a beautiful place, with lots of potential for growth, but the corruption and the debt is severely holding it back.

In A Small Place, when Kincaid describes tourists as "fat and ugly," I hate to say it but when a "tourist" comes to my mind, I think the same. I think of a Disneyworld dad who is overweight, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a fanny pack. Whenever I am vacationing or in an area that I'm not too familiar with, I try my hardest not to look like a tourist. I'm embarrassed to ask for directions to the subway in New York and I will never pull out a map (except on my smartphone, maybe). I've never been on a Caribbean vacation or to any island, but I could imagine how poorly native workers are treated by the people on vacation. The people want their time to be perfect, because this is their time, so they get easily angered when something goes wrong. In reality, the workers don't get any time for themselves and work hard to make rich people happy. I can understand Kincaid's frustration when seeing these tourists, and although many people treat the natives with much respect, it only takes a few to make an assumption and judgement.