A very good homecoming

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I had the opportunity to attend the Penn Relays Carnival in Philadelphia during the weekend of April 24. Although I had the experience of seeing Jamaica, for the first time fielding two teams in the 4x100 male relay and, of course, the explosive force of Bolt's anchor leg in one of the teams, I was uncomfortable as I was suffering from a serious bout of the flu. However, I did not allow the flu symptoms to cloud the glory of a wonderful win by Bolt's team and a good showing by the second Jamaican entrants.

The flu continued to haunt me on my return to Jamaica, and the delays at Newark and Miami airports exacerbated my discomfort. I wanted to just get home and head for the bed. My brother-in-law with whom I was travelling was in a worse condition than me; he was blowing his nose and had piles of tissues in his pockets.

I was fortunate to have my car awaiting me in the parking lot in Kingston. I picked up the car, drove it near the police station because that has been my pick-up point since I have been utilising Norman Manley International Airport. After opening the trunk, I realised that the suitcases could not fit because of the presence of other items. I subsequently took out the jumper cable - still in its package, placed it on the kerb and loaded the suitcase. Only one suitcase could fit in the trunk, so I locked it, put the other suitcase in the back seat and drove off.

flashing light

As I passed the Caribbean Cement Company, I changed lanes two or three times. While manoeuvring my last change, I saw a blue flashing light in my rear-view mirror. I looked at my brother-in-law and asked, "Why is he (figuring that all police officers are males) pulling me over, I did not do anything?" My brother-in-law said I was doing rapid lane-changing. "But I was signalling my changes," I said.

I eventually pulled over and the policeman, in civilian clothing, came to the passenger's door and said, "Did you just leave the airport?"

"Yes," I said. "Sir you left your jumper cable on the kerb."

I said thank you several times and was in shock. I was still in shock some minutes because I had forgotten to ask his name. As he departed, he tooted his horn and I responded likewise.

I would like to thank that policeman again for recovering and returning my jumper cable who was working or coming off work about 9 or 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 27.

I am, etc,

STAN WARREN

mwanza_warren@yahoo.com

kingston 2