Expert inputs
He's coming down the road in his boxy blue 4wd wagon. He stops. Hollers "hello". Starts on about finding someone to clean his garden. He's from Texas. It shows. It goes something like this:
"I need to find someone who doesn't chew betelnut" He says it like there are 5 "e"'s after the 'b'.
I smile.
"It's a disgusting habit"
I keep trying.
"I mean, if people keep chewing that, yer never gonna get tourists in here"
OK, I can't keep it going any longer.
"...and if tourists don't come, you'll never EVER develop"
That's it, I freeze what's left of the smile and let out the clutch.
"See you" It's the first thing I've said in the conversation.
It's not that I chew. It's not that I like chewing. It's just the connection between tourists, development and betelnut never seemed that simple. And it gets me when people solve the Solomons' problems in five sentences (and five minutes in the country). I mean, what's there left for the rest of us who earn a living from pretending to fix it?
It's amazing how many times we've been fixed by these wonder-men and -women. Imagine the progress if we just. bloody. listened!
Have you heard any other solutions? Let's here em!
Or we'll never EVER develop!
"I need to find someone who doesn't chew betelnut" He says it like there are 5 "e"'s after the 'b'.
I smile.
"It's a disgusting habit"
I keep trying.
"I mean, if people keep chewing that, yer never gonna get tourists in here"
OK, I can't keep it going any longer.
"...and if tourists don't come, you'll never EVER develop"
That's it, I freeze what's left of the smile and let out the clutch.
"See you" It's the first thing I've said in the conversation.
It's not that I chew. It's not that I like chewing. It's just the connection between tourists, development and betelnut never seemed that simple. And it gets me when people solve the Solomons' problems in five sentences (and five minutes in the country). I mean, what's there left for the rest of us who earn a living from pretending to fix it?
It's amazing how many times we've been fixed by these wonder-men and -women. Imagine the progress if we just. bloody. listened!
Have you heard any other solutions? Let's here em!
Or we'll never EVER develop!
posted by honiara at 4:34 am
1 Comments:
As an American who recently visited Honiara for the first time, just want to comment that during my brief stay I did not see any signs of betelnut chewing that would scare off tourists. In fact, the only evidence of betelnuts I saw were a few people with red-stained teeth and signs in hotels forbidding betelnuts. I was actually expecting much worse based on comments I had read in on-line forums and newspapers. Thanks for being so patient with the presumptuous Texan -- the kindness and hospitality of Solomon Islanders is what made an impression on me during my stay in Honiara, not betelnuts!
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