Tuesday, July 14, 2009

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Letters | Opinion | Art & Culture | Weekend Report
Who's helping to lift the recession? When President Barack Obama became the United States' 44th president, it was right in the middle of a world global crisis and as a result there was the joke (especially among Afro-Americans) that it was not until things went into the toilet that they (the American people) decided to call in the "black man". Depending on where you are, there may be some truth within the joke. However, it seemed strange that during the recent Whit Monday holiday weekend, a similar reference to such a joke was made after the hundreds of Grand Bahamians who had sailed on the Discovery to Fort Lauderdale and they were all in line waiting to clear Customs. "Well, here we go to help lift Fort Lauderdale out of the recession," said one woman, as she looked at what seemed like hundreds of bins and coolers that were being offloaded from the Discovery boat. Of course, the comment brought much laughter from all those who were inside the terminal on the line. Yet, even in the midst of the laughter, a strand of truth was being weaved. Although the global economic crisis has also hit Grand Bahamians, it has not been to the point where it would stop them from finding the money needed to make a weekend shopping trip to Fort Lauderdale. On the other hand, like someone else has pointed out, perhaps it is because of such a economic crisis that Grand Bahamians find it even more necessary to "go away" to take advantage of the cheaper grocery items in Fort Lauderdale. Although a dollar figure cannot be determined, people would be amazed of the amount of money Bahamians contribute to the Fort Lauderdale economy. Walmart, Jethros, Brands Mart, Sawgrass Mills, Broward Mall, and other stores owe a lot of their earnings to Grand Bahamians. Not to mention the many restaurants within Fort Lauderdale, which is swarmed by Bahamians just about every weekend. Now think about the amount of years Grand Bahamians have been doing this - obviously it has had some kind of impact on the Fort Lauderdale economy. When you look at the size and population of a place like Florida, particularly Fort Lauderdale, what Bahamians contribute may seem so insignificant. That's until you consider the fact that the amount of money Bahamians spend in a place like Walmart on just about any given weekend, the average America may take an entire year to spend (or may not). This fact was proven just over the same recent holiday weekend, in Walmart, one of the cashiers told a group of Bahamians (who no doubt had a number of trolleys) "we missed you guys." She was referring to those many days that the Discovery was down and could not sail. "When we heard the boat was up and running and that it was a holiday weekend in The Bahamas, we knew we had to stock the shelves up for you guys," the Walmart cashier added, as she rang off the ladies' bill, which had already exceeded over $400. And the line in Walmart was filled with Bahamian shoppers. It's something no one really thinks about, but perhaps the comment made in the Customs terminal at Port Everglades was legitimate, Grand Bahamians had arrived in Fort Lauderdale to lift them out of the recession. If only the situation can be reversed and more American tourists decide to come to Grand Bahama to help lift us out of our recession. If only they would fly our airlines, stay in our hotels, rent our cars and scooters, eat in our restaurants and buy our Bahamian made products. After all one good turn deserves another. Monday, June 15,2009