Mainlanders ruining Kauai with their attitudes
I have lived here almost 35 years and was honored that I was allowed to live here and learn the culture and the people. I learned back then what aloha spirit truly was. It was kindness, thoughtfulness, thinking of others before yourself, and thinking how what you did may impact your neighbors and community.
But back then there were an equal amount of cultures here, so no one dominated the rules. Everyone played fair and equal. Now we have a majority of mainland people moving here.
The people moving here now say things like, “We don’t want your culture, your traditions, your history, we just want your land and we want locals out.” And in the stores, they are so rude and demeaning to local people, they treat them like they are third-class citizens. Stop acting like you’re in some Third-World country. This is not a foreign country, this is still part of America, and these are not lowly peasants you are talking to. So how are you supposed to have aloha spirit for people with that kind of attitude?
And the poor visitors who come here don’t know what to think. I see visitors who have the best attitude and manners to others, and then we have visitors and homeless transients coming here and saying that they want to cut in line in front of you, or asking for money — not food — just money, and having them all say “WHERE IS YOUR ALOHA SPIRIT?”
Like I am supposed to let rude, arrogant, entitled people make me feel guilty if I don’t let them have what they want. I really do like to be kind to people. It makes my day. But I will not be forced to be kind to people who assume that this is some local law that we have to put up with this being thrown in our faces as an obligation to them.
And it is appalling that the visitors bureau pushes our aloha spirit so much. The mainland has aloha spirit all over the place — they just call it by other names — kindness, thoughtfulness and thinking of others before yourself.
So don’t come here with this entitled attitude. Instead, come with the attitude of you showing us your kindness, your thoughtfulness to others. Some people will still come here with the thinking that they can do whatever they want and it’s allowed because we have aloha spirit. Well, get this — aloha spirit is optional, not mandatory.
Debi Dill, Kapaa
Source: The Garden Island