The "H" Problem.

An old Jamaican joke unfolds like this,

Boy : Teacha, Arry tek di ammer han it mi hin mi ead!
(Teacher, Harry took the hammer and hit me in my head!)

The teacher in all her didactic glory responds:

Teacher: Hemphasize yu hayches yu hignorant hassss!
(Emphasize your h's you ignorant ass!)

Yup, we have ingrained cultural difficulties with the letter "H" and her partner, the letter "A". The question of when to drop an "H" or how to add an "A" during speech leads to genuine perplexity or, " tie we tongue!" In every echelon of Jamaican society someone knows another who is plagued by this complaint; from the hallowed halls of Jamaica House (quite the hard thing to say for some); amongst the civil service multitude; to the dancehall microphones and back to the farmer at his ground, some of us are just like that or "tan suh!"

Through diligent observation I've come to realize that this enigma is a dinosaur reminiscent of a bygone era. The indentured labourers, pirates and landowners whose cultural input with the passage of time has virtually disappeared, continue to hang on to us via this lovable quirk. I put it to you that if you hear the speakers of cockney today, you'll know exactly what I mean. In the interim, just listening in any random group of Jamaicans can give cause to smile quietly, for truly "Out of Many We Are One," race is not what links us - like that teacher who was caught from the minute she opened her mouth- ethnicity is.