A place where we practice random acts of insight and humor.
And living through it
Published on July 19, 2007 By OckhamsRazor In Current Events
It's a good thing I petitioned my proprietario, a.k.a. landlord, last year to put air conditioners in the house where we live in Casal di Principe, Italy - an area that's what you might call a suburb of Naples, though suberbia generally evokes an image of something quite different from where I live. The first summer we spent here, we had no air, and it gets quite hot. So we'd open all the doors, and turn on some fans, wear light (or no) clothing, and try not to move too much. Attempting that this year would have been bad. Very bad, because our house would fill with smoke.

My journey to work begins eastbound on the SS7 - which is basically a 4 lane highway (2 in each direction). There is a certain spot on that leg of my trip where the highway must go down into a slight valley, because oftimes there will be a sudden dense fog that is there for a couple of clicks, and then it's gone just as suddenly. For the last three days, I've entered that fog only to find out it wasn't fog. It was smoke.

I scanned the horizon - visibility is poor. There is no smog in the United States to rival this - not by a long shot. Plumes of smoke in random places in every direction I look rise into the air and then spread out and hang there. The air is acrid. Breathing is often difficult. Burning garbage piles across the greater Naples area are the source, and to say it's disgusting is an understatement.

Local officials admit the problem is rampant, but no one is willing to do anything about it for fear of vanishing off the face of the earth. See, the Camorra, or what you'd call the mafia, runs a lucrative illegal dumping business to the tune of about 3 billion Euros a year. Were a politician to do something as intelligent as build a new incinerator, it would take money out of the pockets of the Camorra, and, in Naples at least, it's easy to just disappear one day if you piss off the wrong group of people.

I'm one of the luckier ones, I suppose - I only notice an increased respiratory distress. My wife has that as well as nausea, stinging eyes, and a burning sensation on her skin.

In some ways, we're almost glad they burn it - the alternative is huge mounds of garbage cooking in the 90 degree temperatures all day. Potential outbreaks of plague and cholera and who knows what other diseases are a realistic concern.

The streets in my neighborhood are lined with garbage. People just take bags of the stuff from their houses, put it in their cars, and throw it out the window.

Next time you feel a desire to rant about something in America, ask yourself the question "What day is garbage pickup day?" When you realize you have a definitive answer (and you will) count it as a blessing.

Comments
on Jul 19, 2007
Not all areas of the US have garbage pick up.  But at least most of the cities (and all the ones that I have been to) do have it.  Those without it are usually rural areas where the people take their stuff to a dump.  Some do dump it on the side of the road, but the fines for that deters most people.
on Jul 19, 2007
Btw, have I ever told you I suck at email?


It's quite alright. I'm not after long email convos. I just didn't want to lose track of you. If I do wind up in Norfolk, I'll find some time to visit Richmond. You're pretty much the only reason anyone would

Those without it are usually rural areas where the people take their stuff to a dump. Some do dump it on the side of the road, but the fines for that deters most people.


Yeah look. I don't think you understand. I wish I had a fancy digital camera to take some pictures of what the "average" trash situation is like. A picture is worth a thousand words, and you really just can't imagine this mess. I'll try to get a friend to take some photos. I've lived in all kinds of different places in America - rural, poor, rich, whatever....there is nothing like THIS there. Not by a LONG shot.
on Jul 19, 2007
I don't think you understand. I wish I had a fancy digital camera to take some pictures of what the "average" trash situation is like


Understand? I can intellectually, not from first hand. I lived in Germany, and it was actually very clean. If sooty (very). No, we have nothing like that here, and I was not trying to say we do. Just that it is not "clean enough to eat off of" even if it is a lot cleaner.
on Jul 20, 2007
I lived in Germany, and it was actually very clean.


Yeah Mari and I visited Frankfort on vacation last summer. Frankfort is more a commercial center for Europe, and it isn't real touristy, but we didn't care. The people were very nice and it was CLEAN. Almost to the point of seeming sterile. It made it hard to come back here.

Hell, I was just in Sarajevo, Bosnia a couple weeks ago. Bullet holes still riddle the walls of a lot of the buildings there, but by god...it was CLEAN...and the people were very nice. Same effect.
on Jul 20, 2007

Hell, I was just in Sarajevo, Bosnia a couple weeks ago. Bullet holes still riddle the walls of a lot of the buildings there, but by god...it was CLEAN...and the people were very nice.

The people with the bullet holes were nice? (j/k!  But that statement did strike me as funny).