“Among other things, you’ll find that you’re not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You’re by no means alone on that score, you’ll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You’ll learn from them—if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It’s a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn’t education. It’s history. It’s poetry.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
When I wrote this commentary on last summer’s drowning in the Wave almost a year ago, I hoped that, by now the town would finally have implemented some form of beach safety protocols. There were some good ideas batted around by folks like Andy Zahn and Debbie Bender, yet during the time between last summer’s tragedy and now, the Town leadership including Mayor George Proto, Vice-Mayor Chris Bannon and Councilwoman Natali has done absolutely nothing. What may have seemed like an outlier last summer, has proven to be closer to the middle of the bell curve—once again, last weekend’s tragic drowning should have never happened. [Read more…]