Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Dear Media, Allow Me To Correct You, Please

Cruise captain pleaded not to reboard ship

and

Cruise disaster: crew of Costa Concordia 'mutinied' against captain

This time it's not about church matters, though, but about the oft-repeated understanding that the unwritten rule of the sea is "women and children first" and "the captain goes down with the ship" and similar examples of nautical phlem.  While these practices are part of the "immemorial tradition of the sea"*, they are British in origin.  Those merchant services related to the British tradition through formation, history, and royal relations [such as Germany, the United States, Scandinavian and other Northern European nations, etc.] maintain that tradition and practice, but it is not by any means universal.  Speaking as the veteran of four different sinkings in three different nations [long stories; not all that interesting], the only universal practice seems to be "every man for himself".

I imagine the notion of who goes first and the terminal responsibility of the ship's captain comes from the fate of the RMS Titanic and the legends created through that event.  However, as anyone who has ever driven a vehicle in both the UK and Italy can testify, ideas of orderliness can be very, very different from culture to culture.

*"Immemorial tradition of the sea" is also a British idea, generally used to justify things that may not make sense when on land, but are ultimately life-saving when on water.