The Common Courtesy Conundrum

In these US Virgin Islands, it is expected that one greets people with Good Morning, Good
Afternoon, Good Night, depending on the time of day. It’s a good custom that encourages
polite banter, even among a group of strangers and is a defining trait of our islands. It’s
actually frowned up when one enters, or approaches, and neglects to say the expected
courteous phrase. It is considered very rude to make an entrance, and say nothing at all,
even if you can’t make eye contact for a formal & polite greeting to a distracted audience.

“Leave the people their traditions”, is a phrase from an Academy Award winning motion
picture. The traditional “Good Morning” phrase is appropriate, and a very unique common
courtesy custom of the Caribbean, in general, and the US Virgin Islands in particular. All that
said; I am confused. Our culture, which so values common courtesy, has some very
discourteous habits when we get into our vehicles.

Have you ever gone to Tutu Park Mall, Sunny Isle Shopping Center or any other similar locale
and find cars parked next to the stores along the right of way when there are plenty of
parking spaces in the adjacent parking lot? Does anyone find it odd that the very people who
get upset at those who do not say “Good Morning, etc”; would find it OK to park their vehicles,
in a manner that impedes the safe flow of traffic? “Oh, I’m just running in for a minute.”
“That yellow line doesn’t really apply to me.” My personal favorite, is the conversational drop
off, where one stops the vehicle in front of the mall or supermarket, opens the passenger door
and finishes a conversation before getting out of the vehicle; never mind the queue of cars
behind patiently waiting to be on their way. Maybe we need to issue more handicapped
parking spot permits to accommodate such thinking.

Perhaps as one gets further away in the parking lot from the yellow line at the various store
entrances you lose status and are more vulnerable in general, and are relegated to mere
mortal lower class status as you slip your car between the marked lines in the parking lot.
After all, there is a pecking order in life and one doesn’t want to seen as low rent. Being next
to that yellow line is our saving grace. Preferred status defined by the line of vehicles we
inconvenience as we sidle up to that yellow line. What would our co-workers and neighbors
think? Parked in a parking spot? Tsk, tsk. Must be slipping.

I don’t know, perhaps I missed the “It’s all about me” indoctrination at the DMV which defines
the conditions under which one is more important than everyone else, and whose time is
important and whose isn’t. Did I forget to sign the Yellow Line Parking waiver relegating me
to little people vehicle status? I need to pay more attention, because that “waiver” excuses
the sheer lack of vehicular courtesy displayed at our malls, shopping centers, supermarkets,
etc. That day, special permits were issued to deserving people and taxi drivers, and I
neglected to pay attention. So sorry, my fault for lack of conformity; what was I thinking?
Living stateside for so long has muddled my native islander thought processes. I’m a quick
study though.

Stateside there’s the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane concept where to avoid heavy traffic
you have more than one person in the vehicle, or drive a hybrid and you get to drive in a
special lane that speeds you along bypassing heavy, stop & go traffic. Perhaps we can create
the Yellow Line Vehicle (YLV) lane where you can park & stop as we do now. We simply make
the right of way wider to accommodate such a special lane. This way our vehicular vices and
preferred status issues are compensated for with a little island ingenuity.

Another recommendation is to form a special medical task force to investigate and foster
healthy public debate of the disfunctionality between our ability to be courteous outside our
cars and the discourtesy displayed when in our vehicles. Let’s call it Island Distant Angular
Displacement Syndrome (iDADS) due to our fear of stopping between usually angled white
lines away from the yellow line near the store.

The good thing about the lack of vehicular common courtesy is that the resultant gridlock
actually makes it safer for me to cross the parking lot and right of way to get into the store;
and everyone waves, greeting me with a friendly “Good Afternoon, etc”. Thank you
discourteous, courteous people. It’s so good to be home.

vince danet
St Croix, VI