As anyone with an ounce of sense should know, each person interprets things in their own manner. At times that person may share the same point of view as someone else. Now, for whatever reason it may be, some people don't know what is happening in their backyard therefore it is impossible for them to know about everything that is taking place in their country, especially if they haven't been living in their country of origin for a long period of time. Pardon my "stupidity", but I am able to keep up with the millions of newsworthy items that are being presented by the media.
Since week I was asked by someone what is the biggest news right now in the Caribbean. I replied that something that has to do with the economy, granted that the lead stories of a particular newspaper website that I read frequently mentions job losses, freezing of salaries and other unfortunate economic circumstances. I was basically ridiculed by said person for not knowing about a Caribbean banker who is being extradited to the United States for whatever reason. (It turns out that I did see the article but never bothered to click on it. What is newsworthy for some people is not newsworthy to me. Pardon me for being different.) Said person began to attack my credibility as a journalism student because I didn't know about this one article! And when I asked said person about what is the biggest news right now in Europe that person couldn't even mention one fact. I said nothing because people's interests are peaked by various things.
I know people who can tell you about happenings in the political world, some who know about new and existing members in the literary world, some who will flood your IPods and MP3 players with music you probably haven't even heard of, et cetera, because that is what gets their critical juices flowing.
Who am I? Just an ordinary being who knows when and where to say things, the person who isn't afraid of declaring herself ignorant if she doesn't know a fact, the person who wants you to enlighten her about that fact, the person that will not let anyone put words in her mouth and comment on something that she knows nothing a bout. I am not pretentious.
This daggering debate was brought to my attention by a relative of mine who proudly created a group on Facebook against the banning of the videos and songs, I was sent a group invite. I first learnt the word daggering last year when I found out that a Jamaican deejay named Vybz Kartel had a condom brand of the same name. I never even gave the name much thought as I was so excited that a Jamaican artiste is following in the footsteps of rappers by creating their own products. Vybz Kartel also promotes Vybz Rum. The condom idea was so exciting to me because I saw it as a way of promoting safe sex, whether it was or wasn't the intention of the deejay. So yet again, someone assumed that I knew what daggering was all about because: 1. I'm Jamaican and 2. It is talking about sex because of the context it is used in. Again I declared myself ignorant because I never even heard these songs about daggering. Pardon me if I don't spend my time searching for and memorizing the latest dancehall songs (I love dancehall by the way but I only admire few deejays).
I say this to everyone, if you and I don't share the same views that doesn't mean that we can't coexist. What I would like for you to do is not to "attack" me or anyone else who isn't like you. Let it be, just let it be.
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