What has happened since I left the country?
The great thing with modern technology is that you never feel completely out of the loop. The three different hotels we stayed in on my holiday all had BBC world news (two of them even had Sky Sports News, which excited my mother a little too much) and we happily watched what was going on with the world without having to buy a five euro Daily Mail (I don't even like the free Daily Mail, but there you have it). But as the end of our holiday drew near the smugness that I had felt in being British (spending time with a load of Republican American's will do that to a person) was wiped away as ignorant rioters took to the streets of London. Having spent two days of my holiday sightseeing in Roma and Pompeii, I couldn't get over the wealth of history at our finger tips. Pompeii, the town destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 79 AD by Mount Vesuvius, is almost perfectly preserved how it was nearly two thousand years ago and it is completely astonishing. Central heating, brothels with sign posts (I kid you not), steam baths, houses beautifully painted, mini shopping malls, a voting system, I could go on. Remember that this town was destroyed nearly two thousand years ago. I believe we in Britain were living in mud huts at the time!?
Roma and Pomepii are the two most incredible places I have ever been to in my life time. If I was proud to be British surrounded by Republicans (yes, what a crazy idea it is to have hospitals and doctors that will treat you for free!? Utter madness... *raises eyebrow*) then I positively elated being an Italian Brit. I grew up in one of the best countries around and my ancestors came from greatness. You cannot walk around either Roma or Pompeii and not see the greatness. And then, sitting in my little hotel room in Sitges (which as it happens is the gay capital of Europe. Amazing. Did anyone else know this?) I looked on with utter dismay at what I saw. Having not worked out how to use the telly in our final hotel in Sitges (and not caring all that much to be honest) we were without news for just under 48 hours, so when my clever old Dad finally worked out how to get BBC world news up the sight of the riots was a complete shock. I had no clue what had been happening in my beautiful city. The city full of such wonderful history that the American's I spoke with would have given their right arm to own was ablaze. I was saddened and I felt angry.
No one has the right to destroy someone else's home, memories and their feeling of safety but to do so under the pretence of 'what was owed' made my blood boil. I don't get angry very often, but this has angered me. When working in a beyond brilliant hospital in Oxford I was lucky enough to help a lovely old man from Czechoslovakia, we shared a birthday and this meant, for some reason, that he loved me and would spend hours opening up. I loved to listen to his stories as we had our therapy sessions together and I'll remember them always. I am betting that he didn't risk everything during The Second World War to flea to our country with several of his friends (only three, including himself, survived) to see it be taken over by mindless thugs. Protesting and taking a stand for what you believe in is what makes us human; burning down people's properties and taking away people's right to feel safe is what takes your human rights away.
I could talk about this for a long time as you can tell, God knows I already have but today, for me, the rioting became personal. I was talking with The Nice One and was telling him he had become mean (not my finest flirty banter I grant you but let's move on, shall we) and he told me that he was a changed man. It seems that nice doesn't lead to anything good in the long run. The Nice One not nice...this is beyond madness. Even if I don't end up with The Nice One the world would not seem crazy (mean, perhaps, but not crazy) however, some things should always remain paramount; The Blonde One and Dynasty will always be my closest friends; I will always be part Italian, part British; I will always love children with autism; people will always die; Nutella will always be the best chocolate and The Nice One must always be nice. The Nice One is by definition nice and so if these rioters have made him decide that nice is no longer the way forward then they have made this personal. The Nice One has often restored my faith in humanity through his niceness and is forever raising a smile when his nice nature is in full swing. It is one of the best things about him, his overtly nice nature, and I am telling you that if he stands by his word and is a changed man I will seek out each and every rioter and show them what I think of them. They say Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned...They. Were. Right.
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