Â
âKeep on skinning yuh big teeth bwoy, but if you donât pull up your socks yuh going to end up in jail.â
Mr Richards, my Social Studies teacher in Jamaica, was no prognosticator; he didnât have any prophetic powers - he was actually a bit of a dick, but one thing he did understand was that your actions today would dictate your results later. He saw something in my classmateâs behaviour, attitude and habits that would invariably lead him to a sticky conclusion.
He wasnât wrong either; my classmate was in and out of prison because of his habits. Not because it was predestined but because his daily actions dictated who he became.