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Olympic Fever

submitted on 20th Aug 2008. A part of Blog Jamaica. new article

written by owen

Strangely I managed to reach Downtown just before the race began. Or should I say unfortunately. All you could see is people running from buses trying to get to work or better yet find a television to watch the race. I can't remember the last time a Jamaica was some high on Olympic fever or any fever at all. Nutten else naw gwan.

As I walked by the fast food establishment with a open lobby, a mob of people watching the 20" television mounted on the wall. The murmur in the lobby was deafening. One of the attendants took the remote and pointed it at the television and a woman at the corner shouted "him ago lack it offf!" and a man at the other corner replied "lack off what?".

I continued on, when I noticed an unusually high flag to person ratio. It seemed like the flags were manufactured over night. I don't know where so many flags came from - all of a sudden. People driving and waving flags. It was like election day all over again. Babies with flags, grown ass men with flags, flags on buses, flags on cars - it was like a parade. I could have gotten a couple nice picture but I was without camera - curses.

By 9:15 the entire downtown area was shut down, everything stopped moving as if the meaning of life was about to be broadcasted. The nearest television in walking distance was in danger of being mobbed by onlookers eagerly awaiting the start of the race. My hopes at arriving under the cover of the race were destroyed as silence covered the land and then a uproar of cheers as the race began. GOOOOLDDD!!!!

I could bearly hear the radio being played beside me as I saw people running out of the varity store in front of me. Jumping up and down like Shelly-ann Fraser when she won her race. In fact it seemed as if EVERYBODY had just won the gold medal in a Olympic event - di whole nation tun athlete. A man selling small $50 flags could bearly get the flags out of the plastic fast enough - "mi want di one wid di gold pon di top" said one lady.

As I made my way through kingston, every car either had someone waving a flag or was constantly blowing their horns. It had reached a fever pitch. You could borrow a Nanny from a beggar on the street. By the time I arrived the entire staff compliment was glued to the television jumping up and down like they had just one the lottery. Even the security at the door was gone.

Jamaica to di werld!!!

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comments

borrow a Nanny?
I wonder how we say that in my neck of the woods. What does that mean?

by Gods Child ( Wed, 20th Aug 2008 at 4:19 pm )
The $500 dollar bill has "Nanny" of the Maroons on it. $100 is refered as "a bills" for a single note.

reply by owen (Wed, 20th Aug 2008 at 8:15 pm )
BTW Owen, You need to get the lingua correct. It's not "to the werld!" It should be "to di weeerrrrl" or "to di flippin werrrl"

reply by Tami (Wed, 20th Aug 2008 at 10:14 pm )
there I was thinking it had something to do with curry goat
then I got hungry

reply by Gods Child (Thu, 21st Aug 2008 at 1:03 pm )
Owen beg yuh a few joshua nuh

reply by bobby (Thu, 21st Aug 2008 at 3:52 pm )
Haha. The regions of the Half Way Tree bus park was just as bad!
Those flag people are something else!
National holiday mi seh uncle Bruce! If it was Portia we get holiday fi every gold medal we win!

by Jamsprint ( Wed, 20th Aug 2008 at 4:41 pm )
a national holiday is unnecessary

reply by owen (Wed, 20th Aug 2008 at 8:16 pm )
We do not need a national holiday.Indeed, we can celebrate without a holiday.There are too many holidays already.Hopefully,we will be able as a nation and a people, capture and transfer this positive energy and vibrations coming off our successful Olympics campaign in Beijing,China, into some form of national unity --- by reducing crime and the general level of tension in the society--- and with that, become energized to move the island forward, specifically, creating the necessary opportunities for our young men and women to extricate themselves from despair and hopelessness.Interestingly,there are many lessons to be learned from our achievements in China.Kudos to all our athletes. Nuff respect!!

reply by ESTEBAN AGOSTO REID (Sat, 23rd Aug 2008 at 10:35 am )
That's awesome. Australians are too civilised (boring, disinterested) to get into a race like that. I watched the race, it was pretty good. I liked the guy who came second and was celebrating but didn't know he'd been disqualified.

by tristan ( Wed, 20th Aug 2008 at 8:42 pm )
Work was pretty much halted at my place of work till about 11:30 am. Then the boss came in had called an emergency meeting. We all thought we had done something, but then he was like "did you see the race?" Everyone was appalled! Then the "so-called" meeting went on for like an hour. Basically for the first half of the day, no work was done. It was a good day.

by Tami ( Wed, 20th Aug 2008 at 10:13 pm )
I was so annoyed when I was in the midst of it all and mi neva have mi camera [trouble]

reply by owen (Wed, 20th Aug 2008 at 10:58 pm )
Blah, just prepare for 2012

reply by Tami (Mon, 25th Aug 2008 at 2:40 pm )
blah [trouble]

reply by owen (Mon, 25th Aug 2008 at 3:31 pm )
Veronica Campbell - Gold! Brap brap brap!!!

by Mad Bull ( Thu, 21st Aug 2008 at 7:37 am )
Ver with 2 gold under her belt... and still run teh relay like she deh pon fire!!!
What happen to the US relay teams?? Dem ketch dem fraid, or dem did a try too hard???

by Ruthibelle ( Thu, 21st Aug 2008 at 10:10 am )
put it this way fate offered them a way out of the embarrassment of losing to us again this way they can say we won because they were not there due to a drop baton

reply by bobby (Thu, 21st Aug 2008 at 3:51 pm )
Owen you are clearly a toddler cause every where i go 98 eludes you [hysterical]

by bobby ( Thu, 21st Aug 2008 at 3:55 pm )
I didn't even realize that that was so long ago. I could have sworn it was about 2001

reply by owen (Thu, 21st Aug 2008 at 4:22 pm )
i coulda swear carnival parade was passing outside the way the new kgn loud! that was truly spectacular...

by pepper ( Fri, 22nd Aug 2008 at 1:25 pm )
Owen,you must always travel with a camera.photographic moments will not wait for the photographer without a camera.Sorry about the timing.Been there!!

by ESTEBAN AGOSTO REID ( Sat, 23rd Aug 2008 at 10:45 am )
totally beyond my control. couldn't have foreseen that this olympics would be this big

reply by owen (Mon, 25th Aug 2008 at 3:28 pm )
I'm telling you,as Jamaican I feel proud like hell. When those people talk about Bolt show boating...think about it, shouldn't they give credit to be able to show boat and at the same time killed the world record? Bolt is a genius because records can be broken but everyone will remember him showing off while breaken it in '08. Can you imagine what London 2012 will be like? Now we need a yaad man fi beat Phelps...

by David Minzie ( Sun, 24th Aug 2008 at 2:40 pm )
lol, mi no know bout di wata ting at all. no sah

reply by owen (Mon, 25th Aug 2008 at 3:30 pm )
I think what you have to say is genious. I shall accompany you to 2012 london olympics...

reply by terri (Wed, 10th Sep 2008 at 10:21 pm )
David...Bolt did this with ease, and it showed. Too bad he didn't get serious about it and make a mark that nobody could erase. Lazy runner...could have done much more.

reply by James (Sat, 13th Sep 2008 at 6:09 am )
The thought of a yaad man beating Phelps is almost impossible, because most a wi neva learn fi swim cause Granny wash pan (shine one wid de two handle) neva big enough

by geesquare01 ( Fri, 29th Aug 2008 at 3:13 pm )
JAJA, UPYACHKA! UG NE PROIDET, BLYA!

by JAJA ( Fri, 12th Sep 2008 at 4:42 pm )