Everything You Need WHEN You Need It

How do you find what you need in Jamaica?

That’s an easy answer……just go to the bar.  That’s not as much a joke as it is a public service announcement.

I rolled into Jamaica a couple of weeks ago and had plans to stay at the home of a long-time friend of mine in St Elizabeth.  He lives in a beautiful housing scheme full of beautiful homes including his own, which he welcomed us into with open arms.  Here’s a shot of the house which is still under construction but we all live comfortably in the completed lower level of the house.

One thing I KNOW about going to Jamaica are the little things that we take for granted back home that might not be readily available here….such as toilet paper.  I always travel with few rolls just in case.  However in this house toilet paper wasn’t the issue.  A garbage bucket in the bathroom was the issue.  There wasn’t one and I don’t know about you but I like to throw things away when I need to.

Sooooo….one night I headed out looking for a bar to play pool at with my girlfriend who traveled with me.  Sure enough we found a cute little place with the most awesome bartender girl and a pool table.  Follow me now, it’ll all come together in a second.

As we hung out playing pool with the bartender the most convenient thing happened.  An older lady walked on into the bar selling her wares to anyone who needed them.  She carried what I now call her “magic bag” that she could just dip into and pull out whatever you happen to need that day.  Kind of like when Fred Flintstone reaches in his pocket and pulls out a huge sledgehammer or dinosaur bone that couldn’t possibly fit into a pocket.

Here’s the lady’s magic bag:

And here she is reaching into her magic bag:

And VOILA!!  What do you think she pulled the heck out of her bag?  Small garbage buckets suitable for a bathroom.  My girlfriend and I looked at each other and laughed our heads off because for days we had been meaning to hit a supermarket and buy one.  But in reality all we had to do was sit at a bar and drink for our wish to appear!  For $200 JMD we were proud new owners of a red garbage bucket that had on our to-do list since we arrived at the house.

It’s worth mentioning that a few days later when we actually needed toilet paper we randomly found a guy selling it out of his truck back in a parking lot.

Jamaica is so perfect!