Schrödinger’s Caymanians
Nick Joseph writes: A longstanding issue is the simple question: Who is a Caymanian? With many different options and processes for achieving (and maintaining) Caymanian status, widespread confusion has caused whole aspects of the Immigration (Transition) Act (and other laws in the Cayman Islands) to be almost incapable of proper application. This is not a new issue and was not created by the present government or the present Department of Workforce Opportunities and Residency Cayman (WORC). The solution, however, lies in their hands.
The sad reality is that the performance of any department of government that needs to act or make determinations based on whether or not someone is, in fact, a Caymanian can be made impossible by the simple fact that when it comes to a number of persons in our community, the Cayman Islands Government and wider society does not appear to exercise a clear and consistent policy as to who is Caymanian.
There are plenty of people who look like they are Caymanian to the public and authorities. They may even have a Cayman Islands passport and/or were born here. Nevertheless, they are clearly and emphatically, as a matter of law, not Caymanian.
These ‘non-Caymanian Caymanians’ seem (in our longstanding experience) to fall into a number of categories — and are now widely referred to as ‘Ghosts’.
Many ‘Ghosts’ are created (sometimes by accident) through a failure by a person who became Caymanian ‘by entitlement’ to apply for ‘continuation’ of their status on turning 18. A new category of ‘Ghost’ appears to have been inadvertently created where a young person applies for (but does not receive confirmation of) the continuation of their status until after their 18th birthday. These ‘Ghosts’ are perhaps best known as Schrödinger’s Caymanians.
You may have heard of Schrödinger’s Cat — which has made it into aspects of mainstream culture. In 1935 Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger postulated that according to quantum mechanics, a cat locked in a sealed box and subjected to a 50% chance of a radioactive isotope causing a release of deadly poison could be simultaneously alive and dead. The actual state of the cat cannot be determined until the box is opened and the cat actually observed. At that point, quantum supposition is replaced by reality, and the cat is observed to be either dead or alive.
Until the opening of the box, the paradox confirms the cat is BOTH dead and alive.
Almost a century later, we appear to have been able to re-create Schrödinger’s thought experiment, although this time it has been taken beyond theory and can be seen in active operation. Rather than using imaginary cats, the Immigration (Transition) Act uses real people. The box is replaced with an envelope, and there is no need for radiation or poison.
Feline Friends need not be concerned.
Section 26(10) of the Immigration (Transition) Act (2022 Revision) provides an opportunity for anyone who will automatically cease to be Caymanian on their 18th birthday (i.e. everyone who has become Caymanian ‘by entitlement’) to apply for continuation of their status. They cannot make an application before they are 17 years old. To succeed in any application and to accordingly continue to be Caymanian after turning 18, they have to demonstrate that they have been legally and ordinarily resident for at least five of the seven years immediately preceding the date of their application and that they are of good character.
If an applicant applies while they are 17 and is later confirmed to, in fact, continue to be Caymanian, they will be deemed (although after the fact) to have been Caymanian since their 18th birthday. If, however, they have turned 18 before they apply for ‘continuation’, then the Act confirms that they will only be Caymanian (again) from the date of the grant of ‘continuation’.
Since in either case the prospective Caymanian will have automatically ceased to be Caymanian on their 18th birthday, an interesting result occurs where someone applies for ‘continuation’ before they are 18 but their application is not granted by the time of their birthday.
Applying Schrödinger’s thinking, this circumstance seemingly creates quantum superposition for long enough to be observed and recorded. In the period from the applicant’s 18th birthday until the envelope (or email) from WORC confirming an applicant’s status is opened, the applicant is not (and has not been) Caymanian unless the letter from WORC confirms that the applicant is (and has been) Caymanian.
Only opening the envelope and looking inside will confirm the applicant’s status. Until then, it would seem a qualified applicant must be assumed to be both Caymanian AND not Caymanian at the same time.
That is as far as quantum mechanics can take us. Neither it nor the Act inform us or applicants whether they can or cannot be employed, travel to or remain within the Cayman Islands while they are awaiting confirmation. Can they work without a work permit (or is it with AND without a work permit, and is it with AND without their employer paying a fee)?
And how about their scholarship application or ability to register to vote?
This has been brought to the attention of the relevant authorities for a decade. Unfortunately, no meaningful steps appear to have been taken to resolve these issues. The implications of potentially large numbers of expatriates being treated as Caymanian when they are not risk creating ripples well beyond WORC.
It can only be hoped that those responsible can work together and fix it. Until they do, employers and regulators may need to be particularly cautious to ensure that those they are employing or regulating are, and remain, what they were, and are, perceived to be.
Nick Joseph is a partner at HSM
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Category: Viewpoint
Ask ten people and get ten different answers. It will never change here as many Caymanians hate all other Caymanians because it made them less Caymanian.
Bay Islanders, Caymanian decendants from Providence, Isle of Pines, Panama & Nicaragua are the one who should have received the political status grants in 2003!
Present Government wants to raise Cayman’s population to over 100K?? Bring those Caymanian decendants back home instead of over-running Cayman with aggressive and ill-mannered Jamaicans!
There, I said it!!!
We’re already almost at 100,000. The statistics released by the ESO are an undercount of actual population.
9.24 Thank you for saying it.
The destruction of Cayman is accelerating , as more Jamaicans are allowed to flood the Island.
Crime, drugs, aggressive behavior, more single parent children, failure of the school system, increase in NAU hand outs.
Why is that this government is not approving the 3500 residents that have successfully received PR, fulfilled all of the requirements, and are now waiting on their Status grant. Could it be the PACT government-led boards don’t want these people to be able to vote in the next election? I understand there are delay tactics being put in place.
Premier Panton lets hear your answer to that question.
5.44…That exactly is the reason……they don’t want any educated voters .
Mac, Seymour, Kenneth and Saunders’ ambitions to steer us toward Jamaican style ghetto politics, and eventually Independence, depends on ignorant voters/NAU recipients.
3500 educated new voters would not be good for their self serving ambitions.
Because we don’t believe that xenophobic South Africans, aloof Canadians and moronic Irish should get the right to reside here just because they go boxing with some coloured children, pick up litter once a year or hand out bottles of water to millionaire vessels for PR Points whilst they run down WBR.
Ummm, these people already have PR – and many of them are much nicer than you make out.
Aloof Canadian? Moronic Irish? My friend who hurt you?!?!
And what on gods earth do you mean about handing out water bottles to millionaires on boats?
This comment is absolutely wild to me, an aloof Canadian who yes, picks up trash on my beach walks, plays multiple local sports, contributes to the community and otherwise has many Caymanian friends.
The only reason this is a problem is that more than half your population on any given day are official citizens of real countries somewhere else, while you are only official British Overseas Territory Citizens (a place that isn’t a country) or UK Citizens (without any natural right to live there) who possess some kind of “belonger” status to live in Cayman subject to a labrynth of special rules depending on your birthday, residence at different times, mom’s name, etc. Most of your expat driftwood foreign workers have definite, real citizenship of an actual country. Yet many of them have the gall to want some rights and “status” after many years here. So irritating aren’t they, all that whining, when in the long run they are freer than you.
Found the South African or Canadian 🙂
Nope. American.
I love the way Nick writes! Thank you for explaining this so clearly and for making us aware that this is such a big issue. Maybe you could suggest to Government how to fix it?
Nick could suggest, but would government’s pride allow tgem to listen..?
Nick has suggested.
9.02. …and he has been ignored.
Like anywhere, once you receive status, you are Caymanian. But if we’re being real, no one’s really “Caymanian”. It was just a term coined to give us a sense of national pride. We are still a British territory, so we are British Overseas Territory Citizens. Cayman is not a country, unless we were to seek independence (which I don’t advise, we already can’t seem to govern ourselves). Nowhere in our passports does it say “Caymanian”. My parents are from elsewhere but have received status, I was born and raised here, and I have status, so this is my home, and no one can tell me otherwise.
Enlighten “us” then, how no one is really “Caymanian”, and how would that reasoning apply to independent and non-independent countries and territories around the world facing a similar dilemma.
Your parents literally moved to a place called The Cayman Islands! And you were born in said place. When you travel overseas from your “home”, how do describe your culture and where you’re coming from? You just highlighted the fundamental problem with “status” holder’s mentality versus those who know nothing else and proudly identify themselves as Caymanians, first and foremost.
Hence the divide and the debate continues…
@6:25:
Peruse the applicable law(s) and do give us the legal definition of “Caymanian”.
HINT: What you find will likely surprise you.
Not quite right. I have Caymanian status and my UK passport contains a stamp clearly stating I’m a Caymanian. (And still the immigration people at the airport – the ones who stamped that in my passport! – point me towards the “Residents” line instead of the “Caymanians” line).
That is fairly typical and an example of the madness exhibited by our authorities. While they were doing that to you, they likely waved through a number of non Caymanians who happened to hold a Cayman passport, but may have no right to live and work in Cayman. They will say the law lets them do that…
Fundamentally, the notion that “Caymanian” is a nationality or a birthright… is the greatest fallacy allowed in this population.
Birthright is given to nationals of a country which Cayman is NOT!!
Secondly, Britain’s nationality policy was copied across the OTs … in Bermuda is Belonger, in BVI its Belonger … same as Caymanian.
Its a #$%^& Immigration Status … not a nationality!!
We are all PAPER CAYMANIAN as we all ought to have some document that states our Immigration Status, … and I can say this as my grandparents were born here and I am 37 … aka a “Generational Caymanian”
The colonial way of thinking obviously got to you. I am a CAYMANIAN, not a “belonger” of the UK. I have nothing in common with English people, our culture, way of life, dialect.. everything is different. So I am a Caymanian.
@9:38:
To get to the crux of the Viewpoint and the issue, please do give us the legal definition of “Caymanian”.
Without a legal basis your are left with merely just your opinion and speculation.
There’s no solution offered Nick. we’re a small country, batting way above our pay grade because of the British Navy 00’s of years ago, so we’re struggling to cope with the whole nationality thing.
a simple solution would be to stop awarding status! to do that, let everyone who moves here know that after 10 years, you leave for a minimum of 5. that wont stop anyone coming to administer the wealth of the dodgers.
And those that can afford to buy status, welcome!
and leave the rest of us alone – oh, and please give us more beach and ban leaf blowers
“Buy status” , interesting words.
I take it you are referring to Cabinet grants..?
No, the rich can buy status for a large sum of money, but they cannot get a work permit if they do this.
You don’t need a work permit if you have status…11.53.
Nick, you’ve described the problem thoroughly and eloquently. Thank you my Caymanian brother. Now how ‘bout using that high-powered brain to develop and suggest a solution?
did you not read the article that says it has been brought towards the government’s attention? Nick can only do so much when he has no help from anyone in government willing to actually tackle the problem. All they want to do in government is place blame on expats for “Caymanians” troubles to distract everyone from their dirty business deals on island that have only enriched them and made the middle class disappear. not allowing status grants to those who have gone through all the hoops and paid their dues is part of the oppression here on this island.
Waiting for the perilous moment “A paper Caymanian” decides to define my history by telling me that I am non-Caymanian because they are recent “Johnny come lately’s!”
Currently dealing with the same issue with Public Service Pensions Board where I am not Caymanian as per the law and leaving the country and I still can’t get a straight answer from WORC or PSPB the entire system needs to be revamped. The level of ineptitude of PSPB. I am leaving to not return can’t even get my money FYI it’s definitely a mess.
Born to a Caymanian father and British mother out of wedlock, I know this pain. When I graduated from CIFEC back in 2014, and started looking to get into employment, it made me realize how much I was screwed over by laws that were re-written just prior to me being born that would label me as not-Caymanian (despite my lineage dating back to some of the original settlers of the island).
One word: amnesty. Give those who would have been entitled at 18 a six-month window to apply, failing which they are out.
That’s 21 words.
Why the thumbs-down? I would have thought that that solution answers the problem admirably.
If (big if) government wants to regularise the situation and treat these people generously, then I’d suggest it’s the ONLY practical solution.
No. Magic status grants to large numbers of people who are unlawfully in the islands and milking the Caymanian people for large sums of money while also depriving Caymanians of opportunity is not going to be a way out of this mess. We did that before in 2003. Never again.
That sounds fair – tell people who may have lived here their entire life that they have to leave because they didnt realise some stupid law said they were Caymanian until 18, but they didnt ask for that to be confirmed once they turned 18 they magically lose their Caymanian status.
Three things:
1. The children should be allowed to stay.
2. The civil servants responsible for the mess, should be fired.
3. The civil servants who allowed the situation to exist on purpose, and made no efforts to monitor the position, should be prosecuted.
we’ve already had at least two amnesties and the “Ghosts” didn’t regularise themselves. Their sense of entitlement exceeds everyone else apparently.
All I have to do is speak and you can tell I’m a Caymanian.
say vote for me?
wort
Being stupid doesn’t necessarily make you Caymanian either.
Why? Poor grammar?
Funny. I thought you were from Roatan. My bad.
Sounds like all of you are upset that you can’t relate to having a natural Caymanian accent. Lol. Sucks to be you.
Ummm, many people from the Bay Islands have a “natural Caymanian accent”…
04 @ 3:10 – Bay Islanders, Caymanian decendants from Providence, Isle of Pines, Panama & Nicaragua are the one who should have received the political status grants in 2003!
Present Government wants to raise Cayman’s population to over 100K?? Bring those Caymanian decendants back home instead of over-running Cayman with aggressive and ill-mannered Jamaicans!
There, I said it!!!
I love that Nick is channeling his inner Sheldon Cooper to bring this argument back to Schrodinger’s Cat. The catch with that experiment is that it relies on a special piece of quantum mechanics which allows for duality to coexist at the same time and therefore the cat can be alive AND dead. If the cat’s state was determined by a simple coin flip then the you lose the magic of quantum mechanics the cat can only be assumed alive OR dead.
So, to bring it home a person either is OR is not Caymanian based on a whole bizarre method of determining their status. It can be wildly convoluted and yes has a whole mess of intricacies especially if the person is a minor whose parents recently became Caymanian. The meat and potatoes of it however, is that as long as said person applies within the right time frame and fits the correct criteria they should be deemed Caymanian and that’s a determination our Civil Servants should make within several hours of the paperwork being filed, assuming it is filed correctly and there are no extenuating circumstances.
If the problem is that the framework for making the determination is too complicated or flawed then for the love of God just fix it. And enough with beating around the damn bush: Sheldon Cooper or not, Nick Joseph knows more about the immigration law and its pros/cons than anyone so just get him to fix the damn thing so we can get on with our days.
One day (if it hasn’t happened already) someone or a group of someones who ARE Caymanian will be deemed erroneously to not be Caymanian and they will miss out on some God-given civil right as a result of the time spent in limbo with Schrodinger’s cat and they will sue the pants off the Government and they will win.
May it happen sooner rather than later!
This is wha we get for constantly voting in stupidity and putting up with foolishness.
Gordon Bennett! Are you and Nick remembering that most of the readers on here are graduates of our public school system and we never got to Schrodinger’s pussy and quantum mechanics. We spent most of our time learning about sin and the Old Testament and how we would be punished though we never believed it because our fathers never got punished for their slackness.
Our fathers were never punished because no one knew who they were.
Perhaps realizing that all Caymanians were ex pats at some point- even the first…. and stop dividing people who become Caymanian by calling them names like paper Caymanian. Just like every country that permits people to get citizenship, once you receive it, you are that…just like the first Caymanians…one love.
if we don’t want to give citizenship, that is our right to vote in I suppose except government likes to fast track the selected people who pay hundreds of thousands as those with means…elitist society much?
I’ve been called “Driftwood” which I think is a more insulting thing to call someone. particularly as I was born here.
But are you Caymanian?
First generation yes. I was born here. I have status. subsequently the term ‘driftwood’ is rude. This is my home. The only home I’ve ever known. I’m Caymanian whether multi-generational Caymanians like it or not. My parents might be expat but that doesn’t make me one.
Hey – as long as you have status, you are Caymanian. Have your parents not got status? If they do, and you just called them expats, do you not see you may be part of the problem?
They do.
So don’t call them expats! (Unless you believe there are different ranks of Caymanian and you outrank them, in which case you would have to accept that some Caymanians may outrank you)!
They do.
Then don’t complain they call you driftwood. It is one rank above expat – a title you claim befits your own Caymanian parents.
Depends how much of their culture have they taught you instead of Caymanian culture and do they look down on Caymanians?
The people calling you driftwood are completely ignorant and it would benefit all of us if they did not reproduce.
This is spot on. There is no such thing as an “indigenous Caymanian” nor a “born Caymanian”. And at the end of the day, we are ALL “paper Caymanian” as we all need a piece of paper confirming such. These farcical phrases make my blood boil.
Factually correct statements are “new Caymanians” and generational Caymanians.” Somebody get the education under way.
Then applying your logic worldwide there no such thing as being American, English, Scottish, Cypriot, Australian, New Zealander, Afrikaners, Azorean, Canadian etc… Ancestors of these cultures originated from somewhere else too mainly Europeans, and new cultures and new identities formed from the settlement of those people (And comingling with others) in the new environments. And most of these places where the European colonized already had Native, indigenous people there too.
Ultimately no reversion back to the culture of the original settlers took place. And a new culture developed, and flourished. Just like in the case of the Caymanians. A truth many of you are finding it difficult to accept.
No actually. People that are Caymanian as of right are Caymanian whether they have a piece of paper or not. Many of the distinctions enshrined in our laws are necessary and appropriate. The problem that we face is that everyone who has been granted status over the age of 18 (and not had it revoked) can readily demonstrate that they are Caymanian with a certificate. Those that are Caymanian “as of Right” (most of whom are what you refer to as “generational” Caymanians) do not have a certificate, and the government refuses to implement a central database that all agencies can rely on for an accurate determination as to who is Caymanian from who is not.
The national ID scheme would in theory go some way to address this issue.
A little bit of deference to “generational Caymanians” whose land so many of us have been welcomed into, and are so privileged to be able to call home, would be a good thing.
The irony of all this is that the first settlors of this nation were in fact Europeans (Ms. Bodden being the first), given land grants issued in Jamaica. The Africans got here by way of ownership, eventually adopting or given the owners last names, giving birth to all the prominent last names of our islands. The founding fathers were of European, forming government and enacting laws and building the foundation of the country. They created the Cayman Protection Law (now repealed), I advise others to read it. At some stage the help became the majority and politics eventually changed, hence Immigration policies evolving etc.
This conversation is bigger than policies of recent times, Immigration policy in this country has evolved in accordance with which master is being served and income generation. Which has done nothing but muddy the waters over time.
Well you’ve failed basic Caymanian history for starters. You would love to think the settlement history is so simple.
Did he forget the mosquitoes? 🤔
Your response is laughable, but carry on.
The Caymanian Protection Law was never really repealed. They just changed its name. The principles (and many of the very words) enshrined in it survive in today’s Immigration (Transition) Act. It is troubling how widely and consistently they are ignored, to the detriment of these Islands and their people.
what would jesus say/do?
“Be responsible and make sure your get gets legal status at the right age. And love you neighbors, even the ex-pats.”
“For my next trick I will now turn expats into Caymanians, and then multiply them until they number 5,000[0].”
My great grandfather ate turtle stew every day and loved turtles. Unfortunately, he died at the ripe old age of 35. Some in West Bay said it was the turtle stew that did him in. 🐢 🐢 🐢
How sad. I wonder how many hundreds of turtles he ate?
In my case some departments of governments accept me as fully Caymanian and some don’t. I have lived in the Cayman Islands all my life. Depending on which side of my family tree you check I’m at least 10th generation Caymanian.
This catch 22 exists in the real Cayman twilight zone.
Very interesting article Mr. Joseph and very confusing for some.
Thankfully, I’m Caymanian born to Caymanian parents who descended, on both sides of their own family trees, from multi-racial inhabitants of Cayman since the early 1700s. It is alleged that one of my ancestors bore a child for a sailor of the shipwrecked Ten Sail crew.
Think that qualifies me as being Caymanian, with ALL its DISADVANTAGES these days!!
Also, my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was a turtle which escaped capture by European sailors!
It takes a calm and brilliant mind to untangle years of misunderstanding and misinterpretation of applicable laws…It takes a Nick Joseph it seems.
The decisions to date seem to have been made by well intentioned and misguided civil servants, or opportunistic politicians.
Surely Government should bite the bullet and appoint this very capable man to oversee a commission to clear up this mess.
He’s got my vote for all our sakes.
Reading this, sometimes I’m really grateful to just be Caymanian without the need for the paperwork.
Sounds like a nightmare.
Even if you’re a tenth generation Caymanian you will need paperwork to prove it e.g. for a job or a mortgage. And yes that can be a nightmare.
Nightmares (thankfully) only exist in your imagination. This problem is unfortunately very real, inexcusable, and quite dangerous.
How so ? Have you read and understood the Immigration Law properly? And Yes, this mess was created by Caymanians for the ultimate inclusivity for all those who feel entitled enough to be called a ” Caymanian” when convenient. Usually for tax purposes….
No actually. Those responsible for this mess are largely not Caymanian. Sure, Caymanian politicians signed off on it, but those pulling the strings (and the wool)… ?
You absolutely need the requisite paperwork. The fact you wrote this speaks to the alarming state of ignorance (not through your fault) as to what is required to prove immigration status.
And yes, I said immigration status. Caymanian is not a citizenship – Caymanians are British Overseas Territories citizens.
Actually, sadly not quite true. Whilst it is true that Caymanian is a nationality but not a citizenship, one consequence of a generation or two of mismanagement of our immigration regime is that today thousands of Caymanians are not British Overseas Territories Citizens and are accordingly not entitled to a BOTC (Cayman) Passport.
To answer the author, that question did not exist until fairly recently, and we managed well until now. What has changed that? Lack of planning for one in many areas and no programme to assimilate persons upon arrival to appreciate and understand our culture.
A mandatory class should be required for anyone on a “Guest Worker Authorisation” (aka Work Permit) which would include public sector guest workers as well. This miracle we have created is bursting at the seams and multigenerational Caymanians are becoming resentful of their birthright being taken away.
We need the term “ethnic Caymanian” to resolve this which will go back to the definition we had in the 1930’s or so law.
Perhaps the fact is that we managed well until the 2003 Cabinet Status Grants and the fact that our processes then – it appears -started to be controlled by persons with limited knowledge or understanding of certain key facts – including that simply being born here does not make you a Caymanian, having a Cayman Passport does not mean you are Caymanian, and that our entire framework designed and intended to protect “generational” Caymanians, their islands and their culture, was swept aside and widely ignored by those in charge. Just sayin’…
Cayman did not manage Status Recognition fairly, or well, prior to 2003. At the time, there were perhaps a dozen conferred status a year, by appointment, and at the mercy of public Cayman Compass classified ad objections from anyone. It was not a UNHRC-qualifying process, it did not preserve dignity, nor one that the UK could continue to overlook. Among the 2850 Cabinet Status Grants in 2003 were many folks and families that had been born in Cayman, spent their entire adult lives contributing, some nation-less, and/or were frankly overdue the formal recognition. There were also some, perhaps a few hundred at most, that were special friends of McKeeva. I have no issue with people being mad about those, but we can’t blame all subsequent problems on those many others that were overdue recognition. We can’t continue feeling this misdirected expat hate 2 decades later. Get over it.
Here’s the Gazetted list…some have left, many are dead!:
https://cnslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/ExtraGazette-No.33-2003-Status-grants.pdf
Yup. Attorney General there.
Some judges.
And some real estate company clients.
Love the expression “special friends.” Wouldn’t that warrant at least some investigation?
How on earth did we manage before, and how on earth did the Board manage to give hundreds of plainly deserving persons status at the same time, if we were so incapable of getting it right?
2.13pm But their basketload of children are still here.
Many unlawfully…?
Oh please I know several that have businesses that are competing with Caymanians and had to business getting status after being here just a few months. They’re just profiting off of our people. They don’t even like us.
Nothing was taken away without their permission — and their cash.
It’s worse. There’s gum in the cogs with senior Worc “public servants” subjectively meddling to unreasonably deny timely Continuance Applications to dependent children of paper Caymanians that don’t “look Caymanian” enough to them, whatever that means. Despite travel records and school enrollment records that demonstrate unbroken full time residency, they can choose to deny Continuance and force a time-fused appeal process. Ask me how I know.
Wouldn’t an intentional failure by Civil Servants to fairly and equally apply the law be a serious crime at Common Law? Asking for a friend…
When has that ever stopped the Cayman government from making populist decisions? You don’t have to think very far back for examples.
Oh dear! What a conundrum. I am over sixty, born to two Caymanian parents, whose parents were English, Scottish Irish and African. Wondering if I am Caymanian??
Were your parents married? Were they settled in Cayman when you were born? Were they British subjects? Were you born a British subject? Do you know MacKeeva?
Yes,yes,yes,yes,Nooooooooooo. Who dat is?
Only if your great grandfather was a turtle.
No he was a ship captain who perhaps caught turtles, ate turtle and loved turtle.
The fact that he “loved” turtle is how your grandfather became half turtle.
Salty!
You are too funny!
In that case I must be half woman.