Illustration by Ron Pitts
As a native Hawaiian raised on Maui it makes my skin crawl whenever people (who are obviously not from Maui) ask for a kamaʻaina discount. I work as a server in Wailea and it feels like a total slap in the face when they ask. Do they not understand that they moved here? That they are driving up rental and real-estate costs? That the kamaʻaina discount was created for the people born and raised here, who could use the helping hand because of colonization? I swear! No more shame! FYI, I can tell you’re not kamaʻaina because a local would never ask.
