MONTEGO BAY, St James — Many people looking on would have thought that Michael Cracker Jack Young made a big mistake when he quit the Jamaica Defence Force in 1967 for a job as a Red Cap porter at the Sangster International Airport in the resort city of Montego Bay.

But Young, the longest serving porter at the airport ,who has 49 years of service under his belt as a luggage carrier, will tell you today that he has no regrets. In fact, he would gladly urge individuals to become a Red Cap, even though he says its hard work at times.

“Things have changed a lot since I started. there are lots more flights now, so there are more people travelling and the work is more challenging, because we have to deal with more people and the distance that we have to walk with the luggage is much further, but we make more money,” he tells the Jamaica Observer West.

And his years of toil have not been without its benefits, as the Hopewell, Hanover native says working as a porter has allowed him to take “good care” of his five children and wife, pointing out that three of his children have achieved university education — one a medical doctor.

He credits a United States of America tourist whose luggage he carried, for his first non- immigrant visa to that country.

“The first American [non-immigrant] visa I got was as a result of a tourist, I met at the airport who gave me a [invitation] letter to take to the American Embassy in Kingston where I got my first visa, and from there my wife got a visa and my kids got visas,” Young recalls.

“Being a Red Cap porter is very rewarding. If you treat the tourists, good, they will in turn treat you good, so I really like it.”

The only remaining member of the first batch of 15 Red Caps who were employed at the Sangster airport in February 1967, Young, who underwent a major surgery overseas last year that kept him away from the job for almost six months, says he is still undecided as to when he will finally call it a day.

“I didn’t want to come back to work after the surgery, but I was really missing the men [porters] that I have been working with over the years, especially their jokes. Moreover, I couldn’t stay locked up in the house every day, so I came back and is making some money. It’s really a lot of fun being a porter,” he tells the Observer West.

“I know I will have to stop working sometime in the future, but I honestly can’t say when. Right now, though, I am looking forward to completing my 50th year next February.”

What has made his job even more satisfying, Young says, is the fact that he works at his own leisure and on his own schedule.

And Young’s work as a porter has not gone unnoticed.

he revealed that several years ago he was recognised at a function where Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett presented him with a trophy for his outstanding service to the tourism sector.

Young, in the meantime, is hopeful that plans to establish pension and medical schemes by the Montego Bay Red Cap Porters Association, for the roughly 67 porters at the airport, will come to fruition in the near future.

Meanwhile, recently installed president of the association, Hopeton Burnett, has lauded Young for his service to the tourism sector.

“He has given a lot of service. I really admire him; as an elder porter he has given me a lot of advice,” says Burnett, who has been a Red Cap at the airport for 25 years.

He adds that his association plans to recognise Young in “a special way,” when he achieves the milestone of 50 years as a luggage carrier at the airport next February.