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Hello Friends, today we’re going to look at the pros and cons of being a Trini.
Well every culture, every country, nationality, whatever has pros and cons to them you know good traits bad traits and of course all these things are based on opinion and I’m sure I’ll get some flack from some people for some of these but in the end any down to earth thinking will make you realize that some of what I’m seeing is in fact true.
However, I’m looking forward to what you have to say in the comments.
Now I’m gonna list 12 positive treats that Trini have and I’m gonna list 12 not so good treats that Trinis have and I’m gonna do them one after the other so that you can get a gist of the all-around nature of Trinis.
This might be useful too if you plan to come to Trinidad I want to get a gist of somebody that is a Trinidadian.
Of course, not every Trinidadian or Trinbagonian or somebody from Trinidad and Tobago will meet all the standards of these.
We are all of course individuals but in general this is what it’s like for most people from here.
Trinis good at D-I-Y
Now, first of all, let’s get the first top positive about Trinis. Now, Trinis are good at do-it-yourself stuff I mean it’s more than likely that you’ll meet a Trini and somehow they have some knowledge of maybe doing a little plumbing maybe doing a like electrical work or whatever they seem to be able to you know… be kind of like a jack of all trades and don’t necessarily need to be dependent on other people so they’re really good at that.
But on the downside… Trinis tend to have a lot of Island thinking, well it is an island, but you know Island thinking can be considered small-minded thinking.
For instance, there may be a better way to do something and even though you relate to somebody you may say… oh that wouldn’t work here or they may say oh that is the same problem elsewhere but just because it’s the same problem elsewhere it doesn’t mean has to be the problem here — there is always a better way to do things.
Trinis Giving Help
Now a positive for Trinis is the ability to approach any Trini at any time for help and that’s a really good trait that Trinis have you could practically stop a Trini on a street or whatever and ask for help and it’s more than likely that they will assist you.
Now, I’m not saying is true for every single person but more than likely — let’s say 95 percent of the time, somebody will be willing to assist and I even created a whole separate video about that where Trinis would more likely help you than somebody probably from abroad.
Number two, in the worst category is congregating in a line or Cinema trains have this way where they just Bunch up together for instance the cinema might be empty right… and you’re watching a movie — not many people are there and you go to one seat in the middle of the cinema and instead of the next Trini that comes in and figures you know there’s a lot of space let me sit over here no they will come and sit right next to you and the entire Cinema is empty I just don’t understand it.
Its the same with lines if they are long instead of giving a little space they will be right up against your back.
Trini Creativity
Number three for top positive Trinis are very creative well of course you know Trinidad and Tobago is known for its Carnival and costumes, art, music and so forth creativity here abounds with art, culture, singing, and whatnot and Trinbagonians are just great at that.
Now, on the downside number three is sometimes Trinis could be too familiar and what does that mean?
Sometimes they… you know… like they just met you and they’re already asking your business — personal questions that you know you would reserve for somebody that you know well or a close friend or somebody that you tend to discuss these things with but you know a total stranger you just met them and already they’re asking your bank account number.
Discuss anything with Trinis
Number four on the positive side one thing you can do with a Trini is discuss any issue no matter how controversial or no matter how politically correct maybe sometimes with other countries or other people you gotta be kind of on your Ps and Qs (manners) when you’re talking but Trinis are more open to discussing anything.
You could bring up any topic and you don’t have to feel like… am I using the right words? Am I being politically correct? You know Trinis are more laid back in their thinking and are more welcoming and open of topics and that’s really good.
The next one on the other side is staring. I mean sometimes you will enter a place and all the Trinis there will just stare at you and it’s not a state of intimidation it’s more of curiosity but they don’t do it in a diplomatic way you know… if somebody, for instance, enters a room or passes by you kind of give them a glance and then you move on but no Trinis will watch you and watch you and watch you and stare at you down until you leave and you that can really be intimidating but you know that’s just how Trinis are.
Trinis know about other countries
Now another good trait about Trinis is you may think oh it’s just island people here so they don’t know nothing, but you know Trinis tend to know a lot about travel and other countries more than people even from first world nations.
I have talked to people in other nations about other countries and they tend to be more isolated in their thinking towards their own country and know very little about outside.
But with Trinis you will find maybe they know a lot about the states or Canada or England or whatever and a lot of times it may be because they have relatives in those countries or may have visited those countries you know Trinis are Travelers they like to get out there and that’s one good trait about Trinis that you could talk about other countries and other places and they may have an idea of what you’re talking about.
On the downside for Trinis is that they tend to favor most times foreign over local so if you bring something local… it could be a service a product or whatever it’s more than likely they choose that… you know they don’t have that sense of patriotism that they we are not supporting foreign we are going to go strictly local.
That’s a hard sell here… most people like foreign goods and it’s evident in the economy where there’s a huge demand for foreign goods over local stuff and that’s that’s a whole topic there by itself but most of the times they want North American and European stuff.
Trinis are good at staying stress free
Now this this is a two-size coin but I’m putting it under positive Trinis tend to be laid back um not taking on worries about much… making anything a fuss you know they like to keep the environment stress-free so you might find you know would be in a workplace and that’s it working with your other comrades or the other associates there you know everybody tries to make a little joke okay and keep everything moving keep everybody happy greetings you know and not in that regard being laid back is okay because you want less stress and whatever you do and Trinis tend to make anything that they do stress-free and and in some way fun you know they want to feel like they’re going to work and they will meet their buddies or whatever they’ll crack a joke and so forth.
Now this is something that I talk about a lot especially in my other videos when I’m visiting a place the litter and that’s the real problem here boy I mean a lot of Trinis litter they just throw their trash everywhere and you can see it as evident in my videos.
I know a lot of people give me flack for this huh they will go let’s say and show an area and that area is beautiful and they will just show you the trees and nice parts that you enter but really on the way to there and around the area of that same place there is lots of trash and I mean it’s unsightly how you know I can’t imagine going or seeing a brochure for some place to visit and when you get it you just see a set of trash uh something really needs to be done about that and the thinking of Trinis with regards to the environment.
Trinis can be humble with their abilities
A positive for Trinis is that they can surprise you now you might see a guy or a gal… a lady… that’s a Trini and you might think well that’s just a regular person… you know… the average Joe… but they may surprise you that they are a doctor or a lawyer or whatever.
Trinis tend to not put a lot of aggrandizement to what they do. You know… they don’t walk around you know… with their nose up in the air you know to let everybody know “well you know I’m better than you!” I’m a doctor, I’m a lawyer whatever… no, you might find out that same person is hanging out with regular folk doing regular things and it’s only when you begin talking to them you realize oh this person is um somebody affluent in society or somebody that has a a degree in this or that so you you might be surprised.
I guess it’s a humility trait uh Trinis can have they can surprise.
Now, on the downside um in talking to Trinis you can find that they may be the experts of talk but nothing of substance.
Now, what do I mean by that for instance they might talk about the war in Ukraine and Russia but you could tell from talking with them that they haven’t really done research they will do they’ll just talk frequently about what they heard any news or whatever but it wouldn’t take a topic and really research it so they will just give one or two views and they will push that view on you without backing it up with any kind of source material now that’s not true for everybody but I’m talking about in general and small talk they have that tendency to do that.
And I mean I’m not saying anything is wrong with small talk but sometimes the focus is on small talk to the degree that the person doesn’t really find out how you are as a person how you’re doing… you know are you happy today? Are you keeping well? Are you healthy?
Those are critical questions rather than just focusing on small talk now on a positive side Trinis connect anywhere I mean no matter where any world they are you will always find Trinis trying to reach out to other Trinis now that might be true first you might hear for other cultures but not necessarily… um I have been to other countries and I don’t necessarily see other nationalities trying to connect with other nationalities when they go to another country but for Trinis… yes, they you know the culture here is so unique that when they go to another country… like that’s in North America they try to reach out to other Trinis.
Trinis love to connect
You could possibly find a Trini basically anywhere in the world.
Now probably people will give me flack for this but I think on the downside hygiene is a big issue um I mean simple things and I have seen this uh don’t you you can’t argue with what I have seen and I see it happen a lot you know washing your hands you know handling money you know Trinis will will sometimes eat food take the money let’s say that they paid for it right and that money has a lot of germs people handing money and with that same hand without washing their hand go straight and eat the food pick it up you know pick up a piece of chicken and put it in their mouth or whatever I mean that’s and then this there’s a thing that they do that some or some I should say some do where they lick their fingers and I mean wow you know you’re looking your fingers you’re touching money and whatnot that is a big issue for me I know not all Trinis are like that so I know don’t jump and tell me oh I’m not like that I’m not talking about specific or specific people I’m just saying in general those things are critical issues.
Hygiene: peeing in you know places that they shouldn’t, just coughing… you find somebody just coughing and you’re like you’re thinking but oh gosh just cover your mouth or go in a corner, or use the crook of your a um forearm or something but don’t just cough like that in the open.
In fact, illness is a big problem here people get sick very often you always hear somebody sick in your office second in schools somewhere.
Trinis are proud of their culture
Now one thing that’s positive about Trinis is they are pretty proud of their their culture their Heritage their background being a Trini that is and that is that they are not afraid to talk about their culture… food or you know who they are as a person that is from Trinidad and Tobago.
In other words, you know, if foreigner came down or if they went abroad it’s not like there’s some kind of reluctance to say you know what I’m from Trinidad and Tobago and they kind of keep it hidden no they want to broadcast their country what it’s about the food and maybe even cook a meal for the person interested so they could get a taste you know they like sharing their culture.
Now back to the lead back um which I put as a positive for making working environment stress-free sometimes it could be too laid back and then things aren’t done.
You know you would ask somebody to do something and when you think it’s done um no it’s not done and when you go back it’s still not done and they give you an excuse and an excuse and an excuse and it drags on for days, then to weeks, then to months sometimes even years.
It’s so bad sometimes that that I even have a series on it on customer service in Trinidad.
It is so laid back that that people have become disgruntled where they just know you know customer service in Trinidad is the worst.
Trinis know how to have a good time
Now, on a positive side Trinis don’t need much to have a good time I mean a lot of people may want to have you know feel in order for us to have a good time you have to do something specific we have to go to a specific place and do this or that but for Trinis they could simply walk out their door go to the corner sit down and just start talking to their friends having conversation and having fun and so in that would regard they know how to make make themselves happy fairly quickly without having to really do much.
Now, the downside sometimes with Trinis is manners.
When I was growing up with as a kid people had more manners they were more pleasant they would say good morning you know goodbye thank you Etc and while I get that known again I have found that this deteriorated a lot in society so one downside I would have to say is that manners vary a lot now and you might tell somebody good morning they say nothing to you don’t take it personal sometimes our person’s mind is just somewhere else it’s just just not how they were brought up but that is a trait of Trinis they’re not as polite as you might think.
Trinis know how to cook
Now this is our top uh trait for Trinis and nobody can argue with me about that and that is Trinis know how to cook they can cook very well and they can cook a variety of foods in different spices flavors and so forth and um if you look at the history of cooking a lot of the meals that they have here they were born out of history and the things that a lot of people had to go through because of colonialism and because of the slave trade and what they had access to on various things and because of that they had to come up with all these different ways of preparing food because you know much of the time they didn’t have all the necessities of the more affluent in society.
And in doing so they came up with some fantastic meals that just exist today… still and are now part of the culture.
So generally Trinis know how to cook both male and female does not necessarily gender specific where like most cultures or the woman does all the cooking no a lot of men do a lot of cooking as well.
Now this is a downside there’s nothing any you know terribly bad but it’s just strange in the communication sometimes you will talk about the Trini I’m talking about somebody that you maybe just met or you see in your office but never really had that in that conversation with sometimes they will talk about themselves their family and their friends as though you know their family and friends.
So they might start to say no John this… and and Dick whatever… and and Lisa had this and that and you don’t know these people that they’re talking about but they are talking to you as though you know these people and that’s just kind of weird with Trinis but they are like that they like to share their business like I said earlier where they like to find out your business but they also like to share a lot of their business in a way as though you know what you’re talking about oftentimes you will hear them talking you have to stop and say but but who’s this person and they explain knowing that you don’t know but then they continue uh anyway that’s that’s kind of funny.
Trinis are very humorous
Now one of the last traits here we’re going to talk about are positive is that Trinis are very humorous know how to make fun of the most tragic things or sad things or whatever now that can have a down size and that you might find it a bit sacrilegious so you may find it inappropriate but in general you know if people want to come together and have a good time they could they could find some Trinidad will make a joke and help everybody to laugh but sometimes it could go too far but it it isolates on one person and sometimes that could get the person down but generally as I said humor is a big part of Trini culture now the last on the downside is that Trinis simply do not stand up and protest as they ought to you know they kind of like take things just as they are and I wish they would protest more that is the downside of Trinis you you know something is bothering you and so everybody coming together and saying you know what we’re gonna protest this thing and we’re gonna or we’re gonna stop using this product or we’re gonna do whatever no they just stay still and take it after they and they will complain and say you know things terrible or I wish they wouldn’t do this or that but then they don’t do anything about it and that’s the sad thing about it.
Now, I’m not saying to do anything illegal or bad but I’m saying that Trinis need to open them out and express their displeasure at what is going on around them I’m sure you know protests it’s your legal right to protest and let people know that you’re not happy.
So these are the top traits of Trinis both good and bad let me know what you think in the comments area, let me know something that you thought I forgot or what you thought — but do it all constructively.
These are just my thoughts and opinions — I’m sure you have yours.
Thanks so much for watching and make sure to subscribe for free on JB’s Man Cave! [Music] This was all taken from the audio of this video: Pros and Cons of Being a Trini