Video Of Antigua And Barbuda » Political Factors In Antigua And Barbuda
Legal Blanket for the Movie Star
Last week, I read with disgust, a headline reporting that the nude pictures of a famous actress (let us call her "Ms. Dem") were held hostage by a cab driver. Apparently, she and a companion hired the cabbie to take them to a particular airport destination. According to the article, they forgot their camera in the cab and now the driver is seeking big bucks for its return or else.
What is the world coming to? I am missing something here. I am going to assume he did not know who his passengers were, so he searched the contents of the camera hoping to identify the owners. That said, wasn't the idea of searching the contents for the sole purpose of returning the item to the owner? Then again maybe he did know who his passengers were.
Last year I flew from Paris to St. Marten. I hour later I caught a connecting flight to Antigua for a Cricket final. For those who do not know, Antigua is part of the twin island nation of Antigua/Barbuda--two 80,000 peopled gems in the Caribbean ocean. Most know the destination as the place where rich and famous and the local population have interacted and lived comfortably for the past 50 years. True: hundreds of celebrities have summer, winter, and permanent homes there, but it has not lost its natural charm or "world-famous taxi-driver hospitality/honesty." During the tournament, it was not unusual to hear announcers asking for the person who rode in cab number so and so, who left this piece of equipment to go to location x and bring some form of identification.
I operated a luxury wholesale tour company on that island for years. My responsibilities included taking care of high-end travelers. Some wanted helicopter tours to neighbouring islands: most requested were Montserrat volcano tours, and Barbuda, Antigua 's sister island tour to the largest frigate bird sanctuary in the world. My last stint, prior to taking up my current radio assignment, was routing 200 passengers weekly during the winter seasons to 10 luxury resorts. They would come for one week and during that time, 90 % wanted to discover as many of Antigua's nearly 400 beaches as possible. It never failed. Even though I would try to get them to the airport early to avoid congestion, on departure day there were always the late ones with the same story: "We do not want to leave." In that blurred and tense pre-flight state, many would forget items.
Taxi drivers there knew that we operated charter flights. On an average six to ten times per month, drivers would call me on my cell phone. "I just got back to the hotel; the last passenger I brought up there left a ----in my taxi. Taxi driver so and so, car number so and so just left for the airport and I gave the items to him or her." I would call the tower and the drill began: the tower to the captain and vice versa. The captain would announce, and sure enough the passenger was on board. Some would ask that the item be sent to the company's Boston office. Others would ask how long it would take and many times we would hear that the flight is on the taxiway and it would hold. It was commonplace.
Naturally, I questioned a few senior taxi drivers. Do people still leave cameras and briefcases in your taxis? "Every week" was the response. There was not one driver I interviewed that knew not what to do. In Antigua, some 2000 people are registered drivers belonging to about 5 taxi associations-- three of which have exclusive contracts with the hospitality industry. I do not know if it is the pride they put in their customer care-a well known marketing fact, but they are fiercely proud of their relationship with their clients. They gain stripes when repeat passengers ask for them by name, and every year "their repeat guests" bring them gifts: ranging from baseball caps to the latest electronic gizmos. It is not unusual to see visitors having breakfast, lunch or drinks at the homes of their "favourite drivers." I bring you this data to understand the utmost shock, outrage and anger that those guys expressed when I showed them the article. 'DAT CAN'T HAPPEN YA." "Dem fling you out a de association right away." That needs no explanation: automatic disqualification, ridicule and a bad reference. If that happened to any of their drivers, he/she would have to leave the island. The shame and disgrace would be too much to bear.
Hospitality industry service providers function in a pseudo-ambassadorial capacity. Cab drivers fall into that category. When persons contract a cab to take them from destination A to B, it is expected that the driver deliver the passengers with all of their belongings safely. In Antigua/Barbuda, all taxi drivers have to be members of formal taxi associations. They sign a protocol agreement and there are specific preconditions. All tour operators contract them with the understanding that they will abide by those principles. Many times, guests have left cameras, wallets, and pieces of luggage. Many alert drivers check before driving off; some make discoveries only after returning to their base. Not only have we delayed flights, but cruise ship departures as well, to return items. Once we had the tugboat captain return a movie camera to a cruise ship.
The fact that the cab driver knows what was in the camera means either of two things:
1. He checked the contents to try to identify the potential owner.
2. He suspected who the owner/owners were and tried to be curious.
Whatever the motive, in most tourism destinations, the driver has one option--return the product period. Trying to sell the data is grand theft for two reasons:
1. He broke the implied contract between mobile contractor and passenger.
2. He stole his passengers' private vacation souvenirs.
Questions:
There are different types of contracts acceptable by institutions of jurisprudence: expressed and implied. Under these two types, aggrieved persons can seek redress through the courts. Am I to assume that because the passenger is a celebrity and their personal possessions have more value than say that of John Doe the rules differ?
Basil C. Hill, former owner of Basil Hill Wholesale Tours, is a Radio Host, V.P of a chapter of the United Nations Associations of the Americas, and author of "The Golden Fleece Found!" http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Fleece-Found-Basil-Hill/dp/1412043190
Suggested readings: The Tomb of God: The Body of Jesus and the Solution to a 2,000-Year-Old Mystery by Richard. Andrews, Paul Schellenberger, and "The Golden Fleece Found by Basil Hill http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Fleece-Found-Basil-Hill/dp/1412043190
Source: www.ezinearticles.com