Nobody expects the unexpected
on George Hamilton (Jamaica), 03/Apr/2011 01:44, 34 days ago
I was minding my own business today with a loosely formulated plan to go the the Inter-Secondary School Sports Association Boys' and Girls Athletic Championships, otherwise known as "Champs". It was going to take place at the National Stadium on Kingston's Mountain View Road. I'd watch and enjoy myself, take some photos, and then return home to write about it. That was the plan.But things did not work out as expected. Because it was hot and humid I was not feeling too energetic and was looking for an excuse not to go. The dark clouds above me promised rain, and I was enjoying the thought that I could later say "I was going to go to Champs but it poured with rain, so I didn't go". Because it was that kind of unexpected day the weather remained perfectly dry.I half-heartedly headed off down Old Hope Road hoping that I would get more in the mood of things as I trudged along. When the rain came, I could always do a U-turn and head back up to Liguanea. I was not excited, my only other thought for the day was to do some preliminary research into lining up a dentist here. Us tin-grinners need to be reasonably conscientious about our teeth and I hadn't seen the insides of a dentist's office for over a year. I of course know where the National Stadium is because it's on the way to the airport. It's closer to me than either my work or Half-Way Tree. I knew too that I was getting closer when I saw a Goodyear type blimp floating in the sky not too far ahead of me. It was about the size that car dealerships sometimes use in Ontario, but it was still a promising sign. I took a photo of it but later in the cold light of day, I figured it wasn't worth keeping - a really below average photo.The crowds slowly started building up and I have a couple of crowd scene photos. I was beginning to get interested so my ennui was being held in abeyance. The stronger breeze coming up from the harbor was also helping to enervate me a bit.Because I was not too gung-ho, I easily got rid of a ticket scalper as I approached the stadium. He showed me a $3,500 grand stand ticket, but I off-handedly remarked that I only had $2,000 and kept on moving forward with the intention of buying a legal ticket, with the scalper trailing me for the first few yards or so until he gave up. Needing a legal ticket probably reflects my law school training at Edinburgh back in the 1960's. Meanwhile I was getting more interested. Usain Bolt first won a silver medal at Champs in 2001 before winning in 2002 then on to Olympic Gold in 2008. So I was starting to put two and two together, I could probably see a future 2016 Olympian medalist because Jamaica is internationally renowned for its track and field stars. Athletics is to Jamaica what ice hockey is to Canada.But first to view future Olympians I needed my legal ticket so I headed towards the ticket office across the street from the stadium. The route passed through a slightly narrow passageway between trees and a building where pedestrians were heading in and heading out at a normal enough crowd walking speed. And then the weirdest thing happened. For some reason the pedestrians all came to a standstill and nobody was going anywhere. Then I started feeling fingers up near my left hand shirt pocket, while I suspected that there was less noticeable action down by my right hand pants pocket. I put my weight down on my right shoulder and elbowed and shouldered my way out to the street. All that useful rugby training at Peterhouse boarding school came to my rescue again. I was wide awake now and decided I didn't need this type of too up-close and personal attention. I decided to leave. Another volunteer, Dominic, was swarmed at Champs last year, so it is a high crime event - another good reason to only go to Champs in groups. Now it was an uphill walk home but my mind was engaged so it would be no big deal. I had a blog topic - not as expected, but something to write about.Above is a photo taken from the coffee shop showing the intense competition at Champs - all the runners are close to each other after nearly a minute into an 800 meters race. Back on Old Hope I even saw a Mountainview bus coming up behind me so I hopped on and for 80 cents Canadian I traveled home in air-conditioned luxury. And later I got some terrific shots of Champs in another air-conditioned environment at the coffee shop. In the back of my mind I wondered what I might have possibly lost to the pickpockets? My money was all there. Why would anyone risk going to a Jamaican jail for sticking his fingers into somebody elses pocket and taking nothing? Something had gone, and I worked it out later. There was one piece of paper from my top pocket that had vanished into thin air - a cash receipt from a coffee shop that had misclassified a taxable coffee purchase as being non-taxable. Coffee in a Jamaican coffee shop is just as taxable as coffee in a Tim Horton's or Starbucks up north. Crooks were everywhere, or at least everywhere I went today.An even blurrier TV photo but again showing the intense competition at Champs. The TV station obviously has a better zoom and steadier hands than me. By the way, you are looking at talented competitors who could be at the Olympics in five or nine years time. (Lecture follows - you can go to sleep now, but wake up in time to read that the scary final paragraph). Luckily, I always minimize my exposure to theft by taking my money in a money belt and not in my bulky wallet. I spread the bank notes I anticipate using around my pockets. Because it gets hot in Jamaica, I always take with me a couple of paper towel sheets to mop my forehead. These and some unused loose Kleenex formed a protective layer over my cellphone in my right pants pocket. This means that I still have my cell phone, but I imagine it would have gone if I had not decided to immediately get away from the crowd.Even back safely in the apartment, unexpected things continued to happen. FaceBook let me know that I had a friend whose birthday was coming up. I was curious to know which friend had a birthday at this time of the year. Help! It was my own daughter Nadine and then 1/100th of second later my brain calculated that if Nadine's birthday was on April 7th, and Dianne's birthday was five days before Nadine's, then today was Dianne's birthday and I had completely forgotten. So I immediately phoned happy birthday to Dianne on my trusty un-stolen cellphone.All's well that ends well.