We’ve all had it happen to us. You hear a song and you’re OK, that was cool. And then you hear it again and again and soon find it stuck in your head all day and night. I know I’m late, but Street Hustle by Specialist is one of those songs and I can’t for the life of me stop singing it!

Phone cyaad, phone cyaad, phone cyaad. Banana, banana, banana chips…

I can’t count how many times I snagged an ice cold cran wata or a tough bag juice seconds before passing out from heat exhaustion, topped up from a street bought phone card, or completely satiated my hunger pains for less than $300JMD (~$3.50US)  — all from street vendors.

Sitting in traffic on Trafalgar road, I bought a charger for my JA Blackberry only to realize it was a car charger and not a wall charger. I yelled out the window (in my horrible attempt at Patois), “Mi nuh waan car charga. Mi waan wall charga!”

The guy walked off in the opposite direction as my taxi sped through to the next light. Moments later, he rolled up next to the car on a bike, wall charger in hand.

God bless the street vendor!