There is no reason why the residents of Standpipe in St. Andrew should not be saying 'God Bless America'. After all, they associate their new-found fortune, as detailed by the main story in Friday's STAR, with the newly opened U.S. Embassy in nearby Liguanea, providing parking services, restroom services and even cellphone-holding services to applicants, with the embassy, and hence the United States.

At a stretch, they could attribute the gold mine at their doorsteps to successive Jamaican governments which have done very little to improve the living conditions of Jamaicans who actually live in the land of wood and water, hence forcing many to seek their fortune overseas, especially in the U.S. But it would just not sound the same to say 'God Bless the JLP and the PNP'.

It must be noted, though, that the services being provided by the residents of Standpipe are really only substitutes for what should be provided by an embassy at which any consideration at all is given to the applicants. There should be parking facilities, there should be a decent restroom, or at least a scheduling system that would lessen the need to relieve pressure on the bowels within the interview time, and similarly, people should not be waiting so long that they need to consume lots of liquid.

And while the people in Standpipe may be happy for the embassy, those having to battle the extra traffic in Liguanea will not have the same attitude, as they stew in their cars waiting on some visa hopefuls to inch their way forward to their fateful appointment.