A trait that most Jamaicans are known for is their exceptional discernment when it comes to quality. Whether it be quality of workmanship, goods and services, one could say, that Jamaicans are obsessed with achieving and maintaining the best things in life.
 
Most people are not aware that Jamaicans have such high standards, primarily because the country has a third world status. The rest of the world oftentimes deem third world countries as being non-progressive and lacking in the knowledge of luxuries and quality products.
 
My Granny Gheets was the grand dame of quality control. It was not unusual for Granny to spend several hours in a shop, sifting through the merchandise she thought to be inferior in order to get to the "good stuff". Granny's routine became normal with shopkeepers, that when they saw her coming, they would prepare a chair for her, because they knew it was going to be a l-o-n-g day.
 
Granny Gheeta had no qualms eliminating the merchandise that weren't good enough and informing the store managers about the condition of the products. Granny had taken it up on herself to be the World Leader in quality control. Perhaps, it was because she was always accustomed to the finest silks and gems, Granny kept her standards always in alignment to the way she had lived most of her life.
 
She applied these principles to all aspects of everyday living, whether it was the quality of education her children or grand children were receiving, she made it her duty to make sure the Teachers were suitable and qualified to handle the responsibilities of taking care of chidren. Granny Gheeta was never fond of "make-shift things" or people who were considered to be "trying a ting" as Jamaicans would say.
 
She believed that whatever one attempted to do, they should do it with the best of his/her abilities and conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times. I am sure most of you can relate to going into stores to purchase merchandise, and the clerks aren't very knowledgeable about the items. The mere fact that their peace is being disturbed by asking them a question, made you, the customer feel out of place, almost as if you had committed an indignity.
 
Granny Gheeta felt such actions were an abomination unto the Lord and would "raise caine" until something was done about it. Some might misconstrue her actions as meddling, however, I have noticed that when people get to a certain age, their wisdom prompts them to make necessary changes in the world. Call it wisdom or foresight, but Granny Gheeta felt she had earned the right to speak up when things seemed out of sorts.
 
I remember one day in particular, when Granny and I visited the market, all the merchandise looked as if it had been rifled through and put back in a conspicuous manner. Granny was appalled. She felt it was an insult for the Market Owners to expect hard working people to buy merchandise that other customers had tampered with. If it were prescription drugs they would expect customers to raise hell, so why was it different with food or personal items ?
 
These products are ingested into our system on a continual basis, or merchandise is worn on our bodies for long periods of time, so why were folks more complacent about accepting used and inferior products?
 
That day in the Market Place, Granny had the Supervisor quality control every single piece of food and product until the close of day. Granny commented, "Imagine, things are so expensive, and when I purchase these fruits, thinking they are nice and fresh, by the time I get them home, they look like poor things. The other day I brought some merchandise and a wicker basket to carry them home in. By the time I went a few blocks, the whole bottom of the basket fell out and my products were running down the road. You mean to tell me that someone couldn't pay attention to the workmanship on the basket? I had to throw away the items, because after they rolled all over the road, they had become infested with germs."
 
Granny continued, "You know something, this is probably your establishment's way of ensuring more business, but a old lady like me only gets annoyed and agitated at the chicanery behind the whole matter."
 
How many times have people been given inferior dining locations in a restaurant because the workers judge the patrons by their appearance, and assume they are not accustomed to any better? Or receive shabby accommodations at a resort because of other peoples' pre-conceived notions?
 
My Granny Gheets  stopped the presses for such matters. It was not uncommon for her to call the  Management and have the situation remediated at once. Most of the times, the Managers would gladly heed her suggestions, because deep down they knew they had failed at doing their jobs properly.
 
Granny's pholosophy on quality control was that a person should conduct his/her work as if they were answering to God himself. Granny felt, we can fool man, but we can't fool God.
 
Her quality control tendencies also spilled over into human beings. From experience, Granny knew that most human beings were not sincere creatures. They would laugh and talk with you, but she also knew that when one's back was turned the daggers were drawn and the back-biting began.
 
Granny tried to stay clear of such individuals. When I was a child, my Granny warned me about two types of people, Gossips and critical people. The gossips, she felt, that each time they brought a story, they also took one back and it was almost certain to involve your personal business. Although Granny Gheeta believed in constructive criticism, she also felt that there were people who chose to be critical, for the sake of breaking down another person. That kind of criticism, Granny acknowledged was destructive. Encouraging those two behaviors in friends or family could only lead to severe toxicity in relationships. Therefore, Granny always alerted me to press the eject button on anyone who brought those behavior patterns into my life.
 
I am sure folks may say, "Who has time to be so diligent and thorough about such things?"
 
The answer to that question is, think what would happen if you were not. If someone opened a package containing clothing and rubbed it with poison ivy or oak, and you purchased the item, eventhough you knew it looked a bit shabby. After several days of itching and applying calamine lotion, you would make sure it never happened again. Or if your personal business was gossiped carelessly and incited propaganda and defamation of character, the outcome would be unfavorable. Whereas, if you had nipped the antics of the gossiping individuals in the beginning the matter would not have festered and become a sore.
 
Granny was way ahead of her time, she knew prevention was better than cure. It is so easy to grab the first thing on a shelf and run out the store, or to make friends with the first person that comes along, but if we take the time to scrutinize the situation, we would find, that the seal was broken or that someone had a curiousity field day with the merchandise and that, all that glitters is not gold. Either way, we want to dig a little deeper to get to the good, fresh, safe and secure merchandise and people that have been so cleverly hidden.
 
Afterall, a bit of exploration is worth it in order to procure our health and the health of your loved ones.

Tags: Granny Gheeta and Quality Control