Short and Sweet

I spent a fair amount of time today during my visit to the ancient Roman city of Italica, distracted away from the amphitheater, baths, mosaic tiles, and roads that occupied people's attention almost 2,000 years ago. I didn't spend much time thinking about how far that empire stretched to build something like this so far from Italy. All this because hoards of American 19 year olds, traveling in packs and armed with cameras, had better things to do. Everyone needs their moment to vent, and everyone hates their own country abroad, but sadly, I have understood for awhile now why Americans around the world are viewed as they are.

There are probably a billion places something important happened, and brown little markers where somebody died. Throughout history these places have been defiled and burned and wrecked by both intentional acts and straight negligence. When I watched a group of girls ignore a sign, side step a fence, crawl on a boulder, and pretend to be gladiators, I put my head behind my hands and thought some things never change. I probably thought it more symbolic than it actually was.

A friend and I stood out of the way, watching the panoramic view while trying to erase the little ants. I could not help but feel we all miss the point. As we get on an airplane in a few month's time, there will be photographs and small souvenirs and temporary friendships that say, "yes, it all happened," but we will all be the same people we were when that first plane took off.