Dear Source:
My applause to you Mr. Frank Schneiger!!! Your column "Why Don't Things Work?" is one that I feel that is long overdue. Your editorial should be featured on the front page of both the St. Croix Avis and the St. Thomas Daily News as a mote in the eye of every Virgin Islander.
I currently reside in the United States and like many who have and continue to live abroad, I know what quality customer service is. I have grown accustomed to being treated with respect in a place of business. Being used to expediency when it comes to conducting day-to-day business. I am not saying that this is always the case. Things do still have a tendency to fall through the cracks. In such instances, you are afforded the option of lodging a complaint in order to alleviate the problem or to simply take your business elsewhere. Both of these options work wonderfully here in the United States where there is aggressive competition among businesses and service providers. Not so with the Virgin Islands. There is not enough competition. There is no one else providing the service. Where else are you going to go to get it?
As per your column, "People get used to anything." The levels of service and what people are used to in the Territory are nauseating. Virgin Islanders have grown used to standing in long lines, used to waiting forever for goods and services, used to paying for bad customer service. I fail to understand why this is the norm. Whenever I visit, I am easily reminded of why I currently live in the United States. The arrogance associated with goods and service in the Virgin Islands usually stems from lack of accountability of the people in these positions. I often hear friends employed in the VI boast of how much work they don't do. Or how long the were able to remain gone for lunch. Is that something to really brag about?
My peers and I often discuss moving back home. Not surprisingly, many of the people that I went to school and grew up with often ask me why. The consensus is that back home has nothing to offer or I like the way things are up here or I can't deal with those people down there. Hopefully, with your column addressing some of our issues the mindset in the Territory will begin to change and many of us living abroad will consider moving back home.
I eagerly await the next installment of your column.
Bennett Hepburn
Atlanta, Georgia
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