Cerel Johnson, better known as Bigga, unveils his famous grin that "keeps them coming back". - Photo by Hope Evans

Meet Cerel 'Bigga' Johnson, a coconut and sugar-cane salesman from St Elizabeth who befriends stray dogs and takes pride in serving others.

The man with many names is best known as Bigga, so named, ironically, because of his small stature, he says.

Often sporting a baseball cap, dark sunglasses and a silver cross on a chain around his neck, Bigga always greets his customers with the largest grin he can muster, even at six o'clock in the morning. "That's what keeps them coming back," he said.

He also attributes his repeat business to selling the best cane and coconuts in the Charles Gordon Market area.

No easy money

Midday is his busiest time and he generally sells chilled coconuts and several bags of sugar cane during the afternoon. As business slows around six in the evening, Bigga starts to pack up, close the canvas shutters and prepare for his walk home.

Overcoming the temptation to make "easy money", Bigga said he decided to open his coconut stand five years ago with the intent to have one of the most recognised stalls; one that that maintained a natural and real charm. 'Bigga's Cane & Cold Jelly' is hazily painted on the exterior of the small shed, and coconuts and lanky pieces of sugar cane often lean against its outside walls.

The optimist

Although he appreciates his income from the coconut stand, Bigga said it provides him with only enough to get by. For additional cash flow, the 67-year-old is a security guard and casual labourer. While being transported for an early-morning casual-labour job, Bigga was involved in a car accident that left his arthritic arm severely bruised and battered when it was caught between the transport truck and a tree. However, the accident failed to slow him down. Ever the optimist, he is still full of the coconut philosophy he is well known for.

"Don't forget about the coconut jelly, it's good for your back," he often tells his customers.

Bigga says he had a rough childhood. Instead of sending him off to school, his father instructed him to go into the bushes to hunt animals for food and vending. He said he began loading trucks with sand for four shillings a day when he was only seven years old. Bigga distinctly recalled his boyhood, buying his own shoes and pants when he was just a child.

"I grew up all right. My mother died when I was a baby and I was ill-treated by my father," Bigga said.

"But all Jamaicans know how to survive in hard times." He thought for a long while and then said, "I just wanted to go to school and get an education."

Honest living

As a result of his father's forceful insistence that he abandon school, Bigga never learned to read or write. Opening a coconut stand provided him an outlet to make an honest living, he said. He believes he does well.

"I like doing what I'm doing," Bigga said. "I meet different kinds of people every day."

Bigga aspires to one day obtain a sugar-cane 'squeezing machine' to expand his business offerings. He also hopes to renovate his stand and offer a variety of cold drinks.

hope.evans@gleanerjm.com