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| A cruise on a Petri dish is like a boat in a bottle being used as a bedpan (wallmay.net) |
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| Actual unintended nature sign in Europe |
For passengers on the Carnival cruise ship Triumph, their trip can’t
end soon enough. What was meant to be a fun vacation got cut short when
the engine room caught on fire Sunday morning. Ever since then, the boat
has been without electricity and dependent only on generators.
Water
and food have been limited, and passengers are reportedly urinating in
bags [and pooping on the deck and in the halls and, presumably, vomiting over the rails].
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| Phuket, Thailand (KueC/flickr.com) |
People have taken to sleeping on the boat’s deck to escape the
stifling heat inside the cabins without air conditioning.
Tensions are
running high, and medical experts are concerned that Triumph is
basically a Petri dish of disease and germs just floating in the middle
of the Gulf of Mexico. On the bright side, the end is in sight [except that a tug line just broke, so it is sitting stagnant again]. The ship is about 25 miles
or so from Mobile, Alabama, where it is being sent to port. The only
problem is that it is being pulled by a tugboat against the wind. More
COMMENTARY
Can you imagine taking a romantic cruise in southern climes? I can't. It's not the Ebola and salmonella infections, having the captain run you aground, or even the requisite vomiting and futile fulfillment-seeking. My problem is that the goal of modern cruise ship "travel" is nothing but sensual-distraction. I agree! The point is the ship, not where it's head to. Do this, do that, do anything to distract from everything happening in your life back on land. But we've brought the "land" aboard so you won't miss it. It's a land lover's delight. There's a chlorine/urine filled pool. There's a bar, a movie theater, a backed up toilet. We can't feel or see the water and sand, but we're sunburned. *Trill* Escapism? Give me adventure and/or spiritual tourism any day!- Top cars by gender in Los Angeles
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