Mario James, Gleaner Writer

WHILE SHOPPING for a fender for mother's Honda Fit some time last week, I came across a young fella looking at the front of my car. My headlights seem to have jaundice, they just don't have that lustre they used to - and they make the front end look rather decrepit. So I kinda shame, right? It must have shown on my face, because the fellow introduces himself as Rohan Anderson, code name 'Artist' - and launches into a diatribe on what makes headlights yellow.

"Moisture cause it," he says. "Our rain different from dat a foreign, so it cause a build-up over time. An' the heat out yah cause the seal between the lens and reflector fi go weh and cause water fi gain entrance to the light," he explains. We have a ting fi fix all ah dat.

"A long time ago," he continues, "people used to use buffin' wheel and compoun' to tek out the yellow. But dat neva right. The buffin' wheel would heat di plastic and crack it up soon after yu leave the shop. What we do now is a simple two-step ting. We have a special chemical that we just rub on with a chamois, wait till it set and we just rub it off. See, like this."

Much clearer

And just like Karate Kid, he waxes the stuff on, waits, and waxes it off. And a portion of my headlight is now much clearer. My delight must have showed (I wear my heart on my sleeve, as they say) as I was thinking of changing them.

Three years ago, the genuine ones were $17,000 bucks a pop. God knows what they cost now. "So you wha'n me do di hol' ah it?" he asks. My mind said whoa! There had to be a catch. Such a miracle chemical can't come cheap ... "Don't worry, man. People seem to be able to read me like a book). The job nuh expensive ... fifteen bills ($1,500) do the two front light dem and we reseal it to so that water cya get back in an' spoil dem again. We do di back one dem to (too), but it cost more money. If the water take the shine off the reflecta, we can all rechrome it!" This was too good to be true. "Come, mek me show you mi fada."

The runnin's

I am taken up the road to where I see two feet sticking out from a white '03 Honda Civic. "Pops, da big man yah want yu show him the runnin's pon the chromin' ting," he said. And so I meet Desmond, father of Rohan - code name 'Shines'.

He was installing a bumper mount fog lamp that he had worked on, and although there was a difference between the left and the right in terms of lustre, it was hardly noticeable to the man in the street.

The man on the lay-down board got out from under the car and fell right in to the conversation. "Yeah man, I strip the light dem right down and repair the lockin' tabs dem, reseal it and rechrome the reflector if needs be. Di chemical we use take di oxide off the lens clean clean, more if you pay me fi tek out the headlight and do di two side a di lens. Yeah man, it work, and me no get no come backs. If the reflector even crack, as long as it nuh stay too bad, me will try an' help yu out. Good?" And with that he was back under the bumper again.

Bargains can still be found in Jamaica. I've got the pictures to prove it!

mario.james@gleanerjm.com