Lately I've been reading headlines about pirates. Pirates! Are you kidding me? Yep. I guess they still exist and have been quite active lately. Here' are a couple articles that caught my attention from the LA times:
Indian Warship Destroys Suspected Pirate Ship Off of Somalia
Pirates Hijiack Another Merchant Ship Off Africa
The stores themselves are not that great, but it was my reaction that caught my attention. It went a little something like this:
- Wow - pirates that's pretty cool.
- No seriously, there's still pirates? That's awesome.
- Man, they're getting a ton of money. How fun would it be to be a pirate?
- Seriously, how hard could it be to become a pirate?
And then I realized something. I had a glamorized view of what a pirate actually is. I was imaging being a Disney Pirate. These pirates are probably closer to the Smokers in Waterworld - mean, violent, dirty, angry and not a ton of fun to be around.
It's actually quite sad and I feel bad for the sailors who get attacked. Still, I can't help fight this urge to smile every time I think about pirate attacks. Thanks Disney. How else have you done this to me and I don't even know it?
Yep -- once the whole reason for the establishment of the Marine Corps, now pirates are romanticized, companionable chaps.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing that has slowly changed is any given gov'ts ability to go after pirates. Used to be pirates were risking being blown out of the water. Now there are complex rules of engagement. Go, one world gov't.