It is said that we have a holiday for
everything in Jamaica. “The Reggae Boyz won their FIFA World Cup qualifying match?
Let’s declare a national holiday! No school tomorrow!” “The public bus
operators are going on strike? National holiday everyone! No school/work!” or “It’s
gonna rain tomorrow? Let’s declare a national holiday!” Ok, maybe I exaggerated
on the last instance, but you get where I’m going, right? Well, we see where
the slightest incident is cause for staying home and missing school/work. Not
quite so here.
Recently, the public bus operators in my
region went on strike. Luckily for me, I lived on campus, but as for the other
students, it was a disaster. This was not the type of strike that I was used
to. Back home, when you hear of a group going on strike, it’s just for a few
hours, maybe two to three days, tops, and it’s back to work/school again.
After two weeks of the bus strike in the dead winter, I realized that this was
gonna take a while. School was still in full swing, and people had to find a way to get to work or they
would lose their jobs. Some students ended up dropping out for the semester as
they lived too far away, and a few people lost their jobs. A much needed public
service was unavailable to citizens, and they still had to find a way to get
around it or face the consequences; consequences as detrimental as losing their
jobs.
In all of this, it was business as usual:
no declared holidays, no black-out days, and life just kept going on. Nothing
stopped. Personally, I had to turn this unfortunate incident into a positive. A
five-minute bus ride turned into a 30-minute walk so I could get to where I
needed to go. I also learned that circumstances do not define who you are, it
is what you do to overcome these
circumstances that shows your true character.
I was hoping that some classes would be put off or something (especially Economics, ugh!), unfortunately, that wasn't to be.
The bus strike went on for six weeks, and
life went on through it all. The good thing is, I managed to remain healthy
through walking everywhere, and I became more acquainted with where I live and
learned about a few short cuts. However, when the buses did return, I was never
happier to see a bus driver.
"No matter the circumstances, keep pushing forward. Life stops only when you do." -JGIC
Jodi-Ann is an Environmental Studies major
in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Check out her online store at
http://jwbookstore.creativesolutionsmall.com to purchase books and electronics.
Email: jokay2112@gmail.com
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