Friday, May 21, 2004

Misc. Rantings

# Saw a piece on the news the other night that Republicans are making a big to-do about Kerry's French roots. Like this is something to really put him DOWN for. What? The fact that he might travel abroad and experience another culture? Dear god, please don't let us arrive back in the States faced with four more years of Bush.

# I was behind a bumper sticker on the way to work the other day: "DON'T STEAL - The government hates competition." (If you only knew...)

# It's customary in the USVI to preface all encounters with a greeting of either "Good morning," "Good afternoon," "Good day" or "Good night" (the last used upon arrival, not departure.) But this isn't West Indians being friendly. Because if you address them with anything other than the above (e.g. "Hi" or "Hello" or whatever) they'll stare off into space like you're invisible. It's not about courtesy or friendliness--it's a steely stubbornness that says do it OUR way...or else.

# These basketball playoffs are wreaking serious havoc with my sleep cycle. I've stayed up way past my bedtime too many nights in the last couple of weeks. (But the Pistons won! I still love Rasheed Wallace. Y'all can be playa-haters...I'll take 'Sheed any day.)

# I recently had to obtain a criminal background check for my employer (to renew his Notary Public license). One does this by paying a fee to the Police Department for a printout stating that the applicant has no criminal record. The licensing agency that handles Notary applications requires that the criminal record be for all three islands--and you have to specify that in your request to the Police Department. My question was: Why the hell would they keep separate criminal records for each island? Either you have warrants out in the USVI, or you don't. (There's only one Police Department serving all of the islands.)

# On St. Croix this week, there was an emergency response drill. Post-mortem? "Communication problems." None of the responding agencies can communicate with each other via radio. Brilliant.

# Lately we've been seeing an ad campaign on (national) TV promoting USVI tourism. Let's see if they got it right this time. Last time they ran these ads, they included an 800 number...that wasn't staffed.

# The phone just rang...at 1:30 am. When I answered, I could hear women talking in the background. Must have been the boyfriend's sister again. (He has three.) Several times in the last six months or so her cell phone has gotten bumped in her purse and it dials our number. Girlfriend needs to move someone else to the top of the speed dial list.

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