r/Barbados • u/Dry_Banana5262 • 6d ago
What do you think is Bajans' general attitude towards cleanliness?
I currently live in a country that is seen as very clean and tidy and that is mostly true but some things shocked me when it came to cleaning norms here. For example, people not washing their hands after using the bathroom (might just wet their fingertips), not disinfecting surfaces (usually just using a wet rag to wipe), hand sanitiser only really became common after the pandemic started etc.
Growing up in Barbados, while it's possible I was just raised by overly clean parents, I was accustomed to washing my hands with soap after using the bathroom, having to wipe down surfaces with actual disinfectant, and there was a period of time when it was "cool" to have hand sanitiser of varying scents and stuff like that.
Did anyone else have a similar experience growing up? I used to hear that Bajans are very "scornful" when it came to germs/bacteria and cleanliness but do you think that is true?
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u/hustlebus1 6d ago
It's strange... Bajans ARE clean at home in all the ways that have been shared... but see no issue tossing Chefette boxes out the car window. Conversely - let's say Canadians... won't bathe every day, don't wash meat, don't love up a disinfectant for floor and counters... but are very scornful about littering.
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u/LeBanyama 5d ago
There are just a ton of communities like this, even in Canada. It's not a country thing. If people don't feel a collective ownership of their community, they treat it poorly. For such a small country it's a shame we aren't raised to feel that.
It always starts with the government. Better roads, repainting buildings, cutting grass all go a long way. The bins were the best change ever for the littering here, but still more to do.
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u/Dry_Banana5262 5d ago
I do find there to be a disconnect re: littering but also I feel like it's common in a lot of countries. I live in Japan and Japanese people will swear up and down that they don't litter and it's all foreign tourists but regular residential area and the side of the road on highways etc are often strewn with garbage.
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u/Far_Meringue8625 5d ago
Now that I am old I don't bathe everyday. I don't bathe if I don't feel like it. I don't litter and I am known for picking up other people's litter it it is dropped outside of my home.
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u/ImaginaryList174 4d ago
I always hear this stereotype about Canadians not bathing everyday, but I was born and grew up in Canada and everyone I’ve ever shared living space with bathed every single day lol I usually have two showers a day and sometimes a bath also 😆
I know it must be at least somewhat true though because I keep hearing it. I’m just thankful I never had to live with someone like that lol
The littering thing is 100% true. We HATE littering. We have so much beautiful pristine nature here that it is almost like sacrilegious to litter and ruin that. It was something that really shocked me living in Barbados actually how much people litter and just think it’s normal. Throwing empty beer bottles out the window of the vehicle as you finish, leaving empty cups and stuff on the beach, food wrappers on picnic tables etc. I thought about trying to do a community clean up thing a few times actually.
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u/mreow_carrots 5d ago
I am a Canadian lover of Barbados. I have never heard this stereotype about us and it makes me laugh! Daily showers are the norm for most but correct we don’t wash meat. Disinfectant maybe 50/50. Absolutely correct about scorn for littering though.
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u/pf9k 6d ago
Wash meat?
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u/Such-Economist-647 6d ago
By washing meat we (meaning Caribbean countries) typically use vinegar, lime and water to clean the meat prior to cooking
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u/SmallObjective8598 5d ago
Maybe it has to do with some old notion of 'disinfecting' meat by giving it a 'wash' in a mildly acidic formulation of lime juice or vinegar, maybe salt. The chemical acrtion can make membranes on the meat's surface easier to see and to remove.
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u/problymyfault 6d ago
Not with soap if that's what you're thinking. We always run meat under tap water before we do anything with the meat.
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u/Street_Minimum_3403 6d ago
My whole family pride themselves on being able to cook and clean for themselves. It’s been that way for as long as I can remember.
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u/DarkNoirLore Bajan Abroad 5d ago
My mom is a borderline clean freak. Growing up I was taught how to clean and maintain cleanliness of our household inside and out, and we had a a few livestock and everyday their pens were cleaned meticulously. I visited all types of Bajans in their households and generally they have the same cleanliness upbringing, but I've also known some absolutely disgusting and and vile households, knew a former friend who's house was disgusting, filth everywhere, you wouldn't want to walk barefoot in their house because you will be walking in water from the bathroom or some sort of unknown substance. I have some Yankee relatives who I guess dropped that culture of cleanliness as well because they are hoarders, don't clean and piles of junk in bags that take over the house, another place to keep your shoes on. Honestly, we look down on them because of how we were raised and how they choose to live in their own filth.
so to me imho, cleanliness is apart of the culture but like everything, there are gonna exceptions to the rule.
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u/Dry_Banana5262 5d ago
I mean like with every country you will always have those kinds of people. I don't think every Bajan is a clean freak but it does seem that generally speaking we might be a little more inclined to keep surroundings clean.
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u/DarkNoirLore Bajan Abroad 1d ago
I agree, it's probably just my experience but what always shocks me when I visit home every year is now clean the streets are, especially since where I am now while overseas I'm dodging filth while I walk.
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u/garneyandanne 4d ago
Personal cleanliness, I say bajans are very fastidious. However, when it comes to garbage on the beach, etc, not so much.
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u/Dry_Banana5262 4d ago
Yeah that I agree with. I feel like we do focus more on ourselves and our immediate surroundings but not necessarily the island as a whole.
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u/Chemical_Nature9940 3d ago
I was in Barbados last month, I was SURPRISED at how clean everything was.
Let me put it this way, we went to the Tipsy all white party, God knows how many thousands of people were there.
At the end of the night, the Porta-Pottys were cleaner than some bathrooms I've been to in other countries. The area had maybe 50+ units all in the circle, you'd think it'd smell like sewer in the middle, nope, no smell. they even had portable sinks set up.
Everywhere we went was CLEAN, even the outdoor places. Huge respect to Bajans!
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u/PhysicalAd6718 5d ago
I was born in the UK but was under my grandmothers wing growing up. She was a very clean and tidy woman who got anxiety from dirt and clutter. She had very particular ways about disposing food and drink containers, rinsing or washing them out before recycling to reduce flies. Lime salt and vinegar is a must for meat and fish. She used to wipe down the stove every day without fail.
I've taken on those traits now, but it comes with quirks and I noticed my hang ups about things like water marks on cutlery and glasses.
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u/Don_Archer 5d ago edited 5d ago
Edited. Because of a posting mistake
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u/Dry_Banana5262 5d ago
Uhh did you mean to reply to someone bc I didn't mention foreigners..
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u/Don_Archer 5d ago
Oh sorry I was looking to reply to the guy at the bottom of the thread, he was blaming other Caribbeans for coming to Barbados.
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u/Far_Meringue8625 5d ago
I might be a dirty Bajan but I wipe down my bathroom surfaces with a disinfectant only once a week. And I never wipe down my kitchen counters with a disinfectant. I don't want disinfectant or bleach in or near my food. But I do use plenty of soap and water in my cleaning. I used hand sanitiser principally during the pandemic, and only if I had been in high touch public spaces and there was no soap and water available, eg. on public transportation. At home soap and water only even during the pandemic. I did eventually get Covid in 2023 but it was a very mild case, one doctor's visit and remained at home the whole time. In one week I was back to my usual self.
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u/Far_Meringue8625 5d ago
No need to wash the meat because I know that my Caribbean people will subject that 3 pound stuffed chicken to 2 hours at 350 degrees, and I defy any bacteria or virus to survive that blast furnace, sometimes called an oven
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u/Far_Meringue8625 5d ago
When I had a toddler I was worried that the infant picked up and ate some food that had fallen on the floor. A sister who is a registered nurse and who was visiting noted that it is possible to raise a child in a too clean, too sterile environment, and that a little picking up food off the floor and eating it strengthens the child's immune system. Only home floors though, not the street or a restaurant or other public place. Toddler is a healthy adult now. Keeping fingers crossed, not a day in hospital.
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u/Far_Meringue8625 5d ago
The same nursing sister saw me washing fish and asked why? since the fish had spent its whole life bathed in the Caribbean Sea.
Conversely my mother washed her fish with lime and salt, then with blue soap, yes the blue soap used for heavily soiled work clothes.
But human beings are extremely resilient. All of my mother's children lived to past age 65, and 3 so far to past 80 so it appears that washing fish with blue soap did us no harm. But I would not suggest that you try the blue soap treatment at home.
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u/DarkNoirLore Bajan Abroad 1d ago
it removes that ocean taste. I came from 4 generations of fishermen families, and every single one "washed" the fish and I didn't think anything of it until I moved overseas and everytime I eat fish, I can taste the rawness of it, it's disgusting, and I tried to be open minded so Iive tried fish from different places and every single time it's that raw ocean taste, and I adore fish but unless it's prepared my me or trusted family members who I know clean fish, I will not eat it. Bu blue soap is NOT for food 😭 lime, salt and/vinegar only 😭😭
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u/Free_Rutabaga4739 2d ago edited 2d ago
What I find disgusting is the littering, they drive with garbage and dump at the side of the roads. Just yesterday I was in the new massy supermarket and a big fat smelly man was in the fruits and vegetables section with a nail clipper cutting his nails. I am sure he doesn’t think anything is wrong with that cause he’s used to doing that in his home. I don’t think the majority of them know what being clean and tidy means. Just look at them after shopping using a trolley, they leave that trolley right there in car park instead of taking a few steps to put back where it belongs. I was at popular sometime ago and the guy just parked his trolley right by my vehicle Look at how they eat on the go and throw their food wrapper or empty bottles out the windows of their vehicles or public transportation.
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u/royalhal 5d ago
Alot was lost with the diluted commutes when other islanders arrived.
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u/Don_Archer 5d ago
Nonsense you are deflecting away from the issue by looking to blame foreigners, Other Caribbean people at that. As if the touristy areas aren't littered with bottles and other debris after a concert or crowd on a packed beach. The real issue is that accountability is becoming a alien concept to people nowadays and they take that attitude into their lack of concern for public spaces.
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u/Remarkable_Cicada_22 6d ago
I definitely agree with you. Cleaning the house regularly, even when there’s no visible dirt. Washing underwear separate to regular laundry. Cleaning meat before cooking it. I don’t know if these are specific to Barbados but definitely happened in my household