Every day I pass by one of Kingston’s major intersections. Because there is a lot of traffic, there are a lot of entrepreneurs: windshield washers, men (and a couple of women) selling fruit and newspapers and baby wipes and car chargers. The windshield washers are the most aggressive, which means that every interaction between them and the motorists is a delicate negotiation; if the young men ignore the motorist who is waving them away, will the motorist still give them $100 or $200? If they don’t receive any money, will they hit the car, as they sometimes do? Or will they strike it rich for that day, and score $1,000? On the days I run past that corner, I end up talking to the young windshield wipers.

They have places to stay sometimes, with an aunt maybe. They store what little belongings they have there for the day, show up at the corner early in the morning (about 6am) and work until rush hour is over. They have told me that they like to party, to drink and smoke weed, and you can see it in their eyes. They work hard, darting from car to car, risking their safety in the heavy traffic. They also face the reaction from people in the cars, which can range from kindness to abuse. Whenever I pass by, we chat and they are polite to me and I give them money if I can. I also buy bananas, which show up intermittently depending on the health of the crops at any given time.

The other day I noticed a new addition to the group: a man selling flags, presumably for the World Cup. Jamaica is obsessed with football, so people are clearly gearing up for the competition. I have heard a few people say that they will be unreachable once the games begin. In any case, most of the world’s attention will be on Brazil over the next few weeks. Which brings me to a brilliant article about the event and how it is impacting the country by my friend Victoria, who is a Fullbright scholar studying in Brazil for a year for her doctoral research. 

Please visit this link to read the article. It sheds light on how such a major undertaking affects all classes of society. In many ways, Jamaica faces a lot of the same challenges.