Kingston-- "Misss, miss," he called to me. Michael Newman wanted to know what kind of shoes I was wearing. The soles of my shoes are so thick and high, to alleviate the pressure of walking on cement, that they looked as though I were walking on stilts.
I wasn’t sure if he wanted me to buy one of the sunglasses he was selling, hanging from a homemade wood display unit, so approached wanting to hear his request. The sun was scalding hot and standing in the shades defeats the purpose of his products. So he leaned calmly against the fence awaiting somebody to inquiry of the price of his eyewear. The sunglasses with rhinestones on the sides are JA $500, those without are JA $400.
We started out exchanging information about the different parts of our body that are constantly in pain. But the only solution I could offer was to show him my shoes. However, he started to tell me about applying aloe vera plant and cerasse bush to those painful areas and explaining why I was being eaten alive by the mosquitoes in Kingston.
He knew a lot of natural remedies. Telling me the importance of a proper diet. Simple things to know for the person concerned about living a healthy lifestyle but they seemed to be things he has lived without much effort (don’t eat late at night and to eat “sun food” (fruits and vegetables) and less “live food” (meat produce).
Easily we started talking and I became aware of the sad reality of dreams deferred. Inside the stadium hundreds of students were running their hearts out. Most are aware they will never be the next Usain Bolt or Shelly-Ann Fraser. They will probably not get a track scholarship to a Jamaican or American college, nor will they be a member of the national team but to run at Champs in Jamaica is an extraordinary honor of its own. And that accolade is enough for many of the athletes.
But lined alongside the black, iron fences for about 300 feet, circling the national stadium are some vendors who also had dreams. Individuals whom when they were teenagers wanted to be something -- to have an honorable job and wanted to be recognized for their contribution to society. Now they sell items catering to fans attending events at the national stadium: banana chips; cornbread; raisin bread; water, hats, flags, ties and sunglasses, among other items.
Newman had a dream. Growing up in Buck Up, Manchester he wanted to be a cook. His grandfather was a butcher and he was raised on a farm. But when he was six years old his mother left to live in America and he had to grow up without the guidance a child would normally have.
“Sometimes I blame my parents because dey wasn’t there to teach any ways of life and teach the right and proper way,” he reflects. “I would say dem grow you up in a rough style and dey nu really sit down and talk with you – pure rough talk and ignoracy. If you do something wrong, dey don’t sit down and counsel and say you wrong fi this, you wrong fi dat – is pure brutalization.
“But you have to kind of reason with them because is like them themselves don’t have that overstanding," he explains. “Sometimes I would blame them because if they would teach me the right and proper way I wouldn’t be in this,” he nods his head towards the sunglasses. “But in a certain way I blame myself because now I’m a grown man, I’m not a little boy anymore. So I wouldn’t say dem is the fault in certain ways.”
But that kind of understanding comes after years of contemplation. After leaving school early, Newman moved to Kingston where a lot of country folks think their dreams will be fulfilled. But they weren’t. He worked as a cook for a family for a short time and had small jobs but none for a significant period. “I could be in a better position than is now but I don’t want to have anybody around me, to look up to them for my food. I want to have my owna food and if me have somebody around me to help them -- I suppose to help them -- so I not the person to sit down in my bed no matter what.”
Although Newman has been selling his sunglasses for the four days of the meet, he’ll make a good portion of his money in the last two days. That’s when most of the fans will attend the championships to see the winners in the final races.
“Jamaican people survive off of nothing,” he said. “If you see what they use and survive you would wonder. People earn less than U.S. $50 per week and survive out of it – dey throw partner out of it, look after dem children, save a likkle ting. See how great them is.”
Nelson would know, as he is one of those great people.
--Connie Aitcheson
--Connie Aitcheson
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