Adventures In Navyland. Joe Psy.D. Callihan

that?” Quickly removing his hand I answered, “That’s none of your business!” One down and one more to go!

      It happened as a high powered salesman tried to get me to buy from him. Grabbing me by the arm, as some were prone to do, he physically pulled me over to his store. As he was doing so he asked: “Hey moan, how about some nice beads?” Jerking loose from his grasp I answered with, “No thank you.” He came up to me again physically pulling me to his shop, saying, “How about a nice Straw hat?” Pulling loose from his grip again, I answered a little louder, “No Thank You!”

      Apparently not liking “no” for an answer, as I was walking away I heard the sound of a click. “Hey moan!” Turning around to face the determined salesman, I could see at his side he was holding an opened switch blade knife in his hand. Then, for about a minute of time he said nothing more, just looked intensely into my eyes. We had been warned not to start anything, as it would give Jamaican’s the opportunity to hold us and demand a large ransom from the U.S. government to get us back. So I just kept silent and stared just as intensely back at him.

      I was thinking, “Go ahead buddy, make your move.” And secretly I was praying, “Dear God, when he does make his move, please help me to come out on top in this.” A minute of silence can become a l-o-n-g time when someone is silently looking at you with an open switch blade in their hand. So halfway into it, I decided to crossed my arms and stare him down. As time dragged on, I was thinking, “Come on Buddy, do something.” The crowd which had gathered around us just looked on, waiting for something to happen.

      Understanding I was not going to panic and do something foolish and his high pressure sales tactics were not scaring me, he grinned as he closed the knife and asked: “Want to buy a switch blade knife?” I then answered, “No thanks. I don’t think I could get it back into the states.” He then proceeded to walk back to his store saying, “O.K. Sailor, have a nice trip home.” My Sea Scout friends came up to me and said, “I thought you were in real TROUBLE!” I answered them with, “So did I!”

      I finally located the maracas I had been seeking, and bought them at a good price. I have them to this day. They remind me of my Jamaican adventures at the Straw Mart. I hope to go back there someday, and no, I didn’t “Leave A Little Girl in Kingston Town.”

      I “Left The Little Guy With Switch Blade Knife.”

NEXT – IT’S TIME TO GET SOME SCHOOLING