Today, the entrance to the beach was flooded with water. Wearing flipflops, I stopped in my tracks, not wanting to get them or my feet wet–which, of course, makes no logical sense, since I was on my way to swim in the sea.
While trying to decide whether or not I should take off my flip-flops to walk through the large puddle, I was reminded of a Seinfeld stand-up routine about hair. In the bit, Seinfeld talks about our obsession with hair and keeping it beautiful–yet the moment one strand falls from the head (and lands on a sink or counter)–we find it utterly repulsive. This is how I felt about that large puddle–as long as I was diving in the sea, I didn’t mind getting wet. But getting my feet wet at the entrance to the sea was apparently an entirely different matter.
When I finally pushed myself to muddle through the puddle (with my flip-flops on), the sea was overflowing into the shallow rock beds of the beach–in one spot, it was swallowing a ladder–in another it was slapping the rocks and spraying the sunbathers with spritz. The sea really can be a dangerous place, as I know all too well. Not to mention those people cruising on it as well…
For this reason, Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) introduced the Cruise Passenger Protection Act yesterday–more than a year after the Investigative Unit raised concerns about the accuracy and consistency of crime statistics reported at sea. This bill will require the Department of Transportation to publicly post all alleged cruise ship crimes reported to the FBI. As it stands now, only crimes that are investigated by the FBI are listed in crime statistics and posted on the U.S. Coast Guard’s website.
You might not think a bill like this would ever affect you or your loved ones–well, that’s what I used to think too–when I watched those Dateline specials about people disappearing on the sea…and then I had a close relative of mine (as close as a relative can get) vanish into thin air while on a cruise ship, never to be seen or heard from again…
Many thanks to Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) for presiding over this hearing, and here’s to hoping this overdue bill is finally passed and signed into law soon…
