I want to begin this posting by saying that I do not personally believe in the sentiment in message title. This message is somewhat of a response to "Jamaica is a dump"... <BR> <BR>Certainly, though, an outsider who looked at the United States, looked at the crime, emptiness and poverty of the slums of many of our inner cities, the snarled traffic surrounding many municipalities, the monotony of many suburban houses and shopping malls (not to mention loneliness of many suburbanites), the wrenching poverty of numerous rural communities throughout the country, the indifference, selfishness and loneliness of many rich ...this outsider might conclude that, yes, "the USA is a dump...". <BR> <BR>But this outsider would be ignoring the richness in talent, culture and history of the United States. Such a statement would be an insult to many Americans on the forum and in my eyes, would show a profound closed-mindedness. I simply pose the question to those who have been trashing Jamaica: might you too be seeing the country only through darkened, biased lenses? Might you too be missing out on some of Jamaica's musical, historical and cultural wealth? <BR> <BR> When I first moved to Baltimore, I could only find fault with the city...I found the racial tensions intolerable, the streets dirty, crime ridiculously high, public transportation in shambles, the disparity in wealth shocking...I regretted my decision to move here and I'm now sorry to say that I may have told my friends in Montreal that it was a dump and unredeemable. <BR> <BR>Since then, though, I've learned that, yes, the city is NOT perfect and has the problems that I mentioned above...but there are things that I've learned to like about it. People are working to make it a better place. The city, born in the 1700s, did play an important role in US history. And it does have a charm, a worn-around-the-edges charm that took me awhile to appreciate. <BR> <BR>Maybe you'll see that Jamaica, too, despite its faults, has positive aspects as well. <BR> <BR>I apologize for going on so, but a nerve was struck! Happy travelling! <BR> <BR>Dan. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

Dan, even to mention the words USA and dump is a disgrace. You will never be so lucky as to live in a country like ours. You have freedoms and opportunities you will never have anywhere else in the world. If you dont like your city.....move! If you dont like the country....move! Of course you'll never be able to earn the same kind of living or be able to enjoy all of the freedoms you enjoy now. Why do you defend Jamaica and even compare it to the USA? Jamaica in my opinion and many others is that it is a dump. The USA can be what you make it. You should be ashamed of yourself and your statements.....you sound like a communist.

Dan, we appreciate your attempt to inject an adult viewpoint onto the board here, but it looks to me like 13yr-olds on Spring Break are visiting the forums again. The above doesn't even sound like the original Barry (who has the guts to use a real email), who really had a bad experience in Jamaica and has a right to his opinion, even if he went a bit overboard in slandering an entire country and its population. Many others of us have had wonderful vacations there. Obviously, he wasn't with any of us. It was the dittoheads who have blown the discussion out of proportion and into this childish diatribe. You'll notice that very few of them ever add anything valuable to a discussion on Caribbean travel other than to try to flame rational posters. Personally, I found the Bahamas to be more of a hassle than Jamaica, but I even enjoyed my stay there. I just prefer not to return because I've found other places I like better. People spend a lot of money for their vacation. (And an all-inclusive like Sandals isn't exactly a cheap "Spring-break" package.) When it doesn't go as you expected, it is a huge bummer. There are good choices and bad choices on every island. I can feel bad for Barry, having blown a lot of money on a less than successful vacation. There are a lot of people on this forum who could have directed him to a much better experience, even on Jamaica.

Barry is not worth the response !! <BR>

Anybody who could support dumpy Baltimore (in spite of the so-called "revitalization") AND dumpy Jamaica has quite a few screws loose!!

Jamaica and most of America's most violent, destitute and unliveable areas have one common denominator. Think real, real hard and the answer should be easy. To the double.