VISITOR’S VIEWBe Bermudians againDecember 30, 2005

Dear Sir,When I was a child I came to Bermuda from America on a middle class vacation in the early 1970s. My family had the honour to meet and become friends with Peter Gordon, a cab driver and as many Bermudians know a political leader. Peter and his family made a profound and important impact on me as a child. Peter taught me that we are all alike and that hard work is rewarded.

I am 42 now and I have three children of my own. It will take hard work and sacrifice to afford a Bermuda vacation. I want to go back more than any place on the planet because of one man, Peter Gordon.

In my short stay he taught me more about life, about being upbeat and positive about human pride than any person has in my life. Wow, have Bermudians lost the idea that just being themselves could attract people to their island?

The funny thing is that I come from an island too. An island off the coast of Maine. The people who work hard, maintain family values, and stay off the dole, contribute because they have the human pride that comes from hard work and they don’t apologise for the punks and deadbeats unwilling to make a positive contribution to society.

Would I run from a machete wielding punk at a sporting event? Would Peter Gordon have run or looked the other way? I doubt it. I hate to hear of the decline of safety, the decline of the tourism industry in Bermuda. I want to return with my family. Bermuda and its people are awesome!

In Maine where I am from, we have well over a million summer visitors every summer. I spent some of the best years of my life saying “Yes sir.” and “Thank you.” while I was earning a wage it never occurred to me that I was doing anything but working. It was never beneath me to clean out the grease trap at the local restaurant or mop the floor where I worked.

After all, I was getting paid for it. From what I’ve been reading in The Royal Gazette, it seems like some people in Bermuda think Americans don’t have to save to afford a Bermuda vacation. Well, that ain’t me brother..that ain’t me. Demand more from the big reinsurers.

Make them help the people in Bermuda who need it most like the young and the elderly. Forget the stupid political crap that is hurting your great island. Get over the stale race struggle. Become Bermudians again and we will all return in droves.JIM SKIFF

Maine