Tuesday, 6 July 2010

The things people say.

"That guy is from Jamaica" was an utterance I heard last night as I walk around Carmel-fest. I muttered under my breath that I doubted it very much, at which point the guy who must have been wearing one of the 'super' hearing aids I have seen advertised on TV called me on my statement. Most odd, something you would never hear in England, a sarky almost patronising dismiss called out by the subject.
The chap was in his 70s, 80s maybe, and asked me how I could possibly know the guy singing "Murder She Wrote" by Chaka Demus and Pliers was not Jamaican. I didn't have anyway of know obviously, so I just spoke some words in a strong English accent, with a certain authority, about London, and there being areas of London which are Caribbean rich, us having a Caribbean themed carnival every year, and recognising that this guy was simply a local imitating a Jamaican. As I said these things I realised how patronising this must sound, but the bloke, Micheal, and his wife Jeanette seemed genuinely enthralled by my 'wisdom'.
Most bizarre, they asked the usual questions, "Do you know Gordon Ramsay?", "what do English people think about Micheal Vick and his dog-fighting prison sentence?" and the like. People seem actually confused when I tell them most people in the UK would have no idea who Micheal Vick is, but confirm to them that we do indeed love our pets, but I believe dogfighting goes on in Europe also. It is odd that I have had this conversation with several people. Considering it happened quite a long time ago it seems to still be talked about, I guess his recent indiscretions have brought it back in to the public consciousness.
Back to the original quote, it really did seem like one of those throw away lines from Family Guy, the kind that in Britain we laugh at as being a little surreal, and thinking nobody says things like that. Or assuming that the statement is sarcasm at it's finest, but oddly I have heard lines and comments everywhere I have been, and find myself chuckling to myself regularly. I wish I could remember more, I now have a notepad to make notes!!
For the record, the bloke was not from Jamaica, very clearly local when he dropped the character and started chatting up some girls wearing very little.

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