A few persons called me yesterday…The words and tone were very distubing to me. And I couldn’t determine why. But today as I read the news about Usain Bolt’s return to Jamaica, I recalled the words that were repeated to me vividly over and over again yesterday by friends. They said “Bolt, went home quietly” in a giglish, satisfactorily, irritating manner. This is very disturbing to me. These were the same persons who called me every day two weeks ago expressing thier ultimate inner excitement and fulfillment of being Jamaican and so proud that Usain Bolt has taken us to places no one has journeyed before.
When the NBA champs win their championships for their cities, no matter what crime the indvidual players commit during the season, (wife beating, drug possession, illegal gun possession; whatever! upon return to their city a parade, street circus and party non-stop for their new heroes. For us Jamaicans to turn around in an instatnt and place (our most popular person on earth, the fastest man on earth, the man who knows how to negotiate his way through the many media organizatiosn, passing in flying colors the endless drug tests; and give us cause to brag about being a jamaican) in a position where he has to return to his country without a celebration is the saddest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. This is crazy. Jamaicans have let down our Usain Bolt. And these are without remorse. I really dont like the feeling.
We should be watching the plane land and Bolt exiting to the joy of his homeland crowd. He told Half Way Tree in one of his interviews at the Olympics that “me soon come” What about the motorcade? What about the love, what about the “dutchie pot cover?. Quite unfortunate. There will be no invitation to Gat and Gay to a Bolt party in Jamaica; no joy of his return. Sad I say. We must be ashamed of ourselves to allow Usain St Leo Bolt to return Home with his tail between his legs. Do I think that these same people who now feel satisfied and have no sense of remorse about what they have done to our hero, would jump at the opportunity to share a night on the dancefloor or on the town with the Champ. Are we being overly self righteous? hmm!! A few years ago we also turned our backs on Merlene Ottey who left to tun compete for another country.
