Carolyn Cooper | Giving thanks for six-inch tiles

At the 2004 staging of the Calabash International Literary Festival, there was an inspiring session on the kindness of strangers. It featured “true tales of random global acts of kindness from the editors of Lonely Planet.” Tim Cahill, Don George, Amanda Jones and Laurie McAndish King shared their uplifting stories.

Talking of Calabash, nuff congratulations to Justine Henzell, co-founder of the festival, on the award of the national honour, Officer of the Order of Distinction (OD)! The honour acknowledges Justine’s “contribution to the film and television industry and to the literary arts”. When I said to Justine that my only regret was that it was not Commander class, she responded, with typical modesty, “OD is quite enough for me.”

Recently, I was reminded of the kindness of strangers. We are so accustomed to the daily news reports about crime and violence, it’s easy to forget that most Jamaicans are nice and decent people. It’s the murderous minority that dominates the media. As the famous saying goes, “Good news doesn’t sell newspapers.” These days, we have to add, “and it doesn’t generate clicks.”

“LIVING IN HOPE”

Last month, I wrote a column about my frustrating search for six-inch tiles. Since Jamaica went metric, it’s all but impossible to find tiles in the old imperial units of feet and inches. I got quite a few sympathetic responses with helpful advice. I’m sure my friends Donna and Jimmy Parnell, who own Creative Building Finishes Ltd, will be quite pleased to know that more than one person recommended that I contact their company to source the tiles.

I also got a request for assistance. Someone emailed optimistically: “If you find them let me know!! I have half a wall in six inch and am living in hope.....” The wife of a retired contractor in Linstead got in touch to say that her husband had 249 six-inch tiles in different configurations: double and single round edge. I put her in touch with the person with the missing half a wall of tiles.

By then, I had lucked out. Jenice Blackwood had sent this email: “I do have some 6 inch white bathroom tiles sitting in my garage, looking for a home if you are interested. I live in the Treasure Beach area. Please let me know.” I immediately responded: “This is wonderful news! I would be most happy to adopt them. And to cover the cost!” As it turned out, Jenice is an environmentalist who simply could not bring herself to throw out the tiles. She knew she needed to upcycle them. My hopeful appeal gave her the perfect opportunity to do exactly that.

VIRTUAL ‘SWOP SHOP’

Jenice generously did not accept payment. She said, “Just keep on doing what you’re doing!” This was such an affirmation of the value of writing each week. It’s a lot of work. But appreciative readers make it worthwhile. Incidentally, I’ll be taking my annual break from writing for the month of September.

Jenice’s kindness gave me a bright idea: a virtual ‘swop shop’ where relatively inexpensive but much needed items could be upcycled. I got in touch with my friend Yorkali Walters, a talented web designer for over two decades and CEO of the cleverly-named company, The Imaji Nation.

Yorkali noted that Instagram and Facebook Marketplace are sites on which goods and services are already being sold. But not everyone uses these platforms. A ‘swop shop’ website would be a neutral space for anyone with access to the Internet. My search for similar sites confirmed that there’s a market for the project, especially with a focus on small-ticket items. I encouraged Yorkali to take the idea and run with it.

RELISHING BAD NEWS

Of course, not everyone approved of my column on searching for tiles. Coretta Burgess, who seems to relish bad news, posted this hostile comment on The Gleaner’s website:

“This piece is as relevant (some would say irrelevant) as the writer. We know for a fact that extortion is a reality where public passenger vehicles that use the bus park in Spanish [Town] are paying between 80k and 100k daily, commuters have to be waiting for up to 2 hours to get a bus to go about their business at the bus Kingston parks, many communities across the island have little or no water supply, murder is rampant across all police divisions, and what she thinks will interest the Jamaican reader is her quest to locate 6 inch bathroom tiles. She has the platform to do so much to actually do stuff to tangibly better the lives of her fellow Jamaicans but this is what she chooses to do. This would be funny if it werent so tragic.”

For Ms Burgess, only terrible social problems are worthy of media attention. Not all readers agree with her. Clirey posted this response to the column: “What is also frustrating. Is when retailers flood the market with a particular pattern of tile. People may do their entire house with that pattern. Try getting a replacement tile, a few years down the road. No chance. You are met with, ‘the manufacturer stop making them.’” Unfortunately, the expensive solution to this problem is to buy extra tiles right from the start.

Unlike Ms Burgess, I know that bettering the lives of my fellow Jamaicans can sometimes mean just giving them an opportunity to vent their frustration at what may seem like unimportant matters. I’m still giving thanks for the kindness of a stranger who offered me the tiles I so desperately needed. Good news really should sell newspapers.

Carolyn Cooper, PhD, is a teacher of English language and literature and a specialist on culture and development. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and karokupa@gmail.com