Jul 21 2008
A Long Way from Italy to the South
Italy is a long way from my little southern town. As if the miles are not enough of a difference, the way people act is an obvious give away. CNN.com ran a news story that has been circulating over the media during the weekend. In Italy, sunbathers sat or walked on the beach only yards from where two dead girls lay covered in a beach towel.
Yes, the miles away are far and show a vast difference in the south and Italy. Even more of a difference is in the attitude of the sunbathers. Having lived in the south my entire life, I can attest to the fact that we have some pretty nosey folks living here. There may be a few that would try to act like a civilized person of character and not run up and peek under the beach towels. I seriously doubt that many would be able to sit calmly acting like nothing was going on even if they were a football field away.
Hey, it’s true, we are nosey! Southerners would want to know what was going on. After finding out, the reaction would vary. Some would walk over and stare at the bodies covered in the towels. Some would leave the beach in a pure panic of being so close to a dead body. Many would be whispering about the girls’ families and how they could allow their little girls to be put in such danger just to earn a small amount of money. Okay, they did not have to get into the water to actually sell the trinkets, but who could resist the urge to cool off a little between sales.
There are many that are complaining in outrage about how disturbing it is to see pictures and video of people casually walking by or sitting nearby. They are simply going on with their day like nothing out of the ordinary is happening. I wonder what their lives must be like if this is so common and ordinary that they can sit by so unconcerned.
These folks sure aren’t from the south. If they were, then the complaints would be about how these poor little girls’ privacy was violated by those jerks raising up the beach towel to look at them. Okay, those would be the type of people that gives the south a bad name. The ones standing by wringing their hands and talking about the families of the poor little girls and how this tragedy might affect them would be the more civilized southerners. Myself, I would be sitting their crying for the lost potential of a 12 year old and a 13 year old that will never have the opportunity of growing old and experiencing the fullness life has to offer.
The full story on CNN.com can be found at http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/07/21/italy.drowning/index.html.
