Tomorrow is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic. And, as I am currently living in Southampton, I feel totally justified in writing about it.
Over the last few weeks, I have watched the film and the TV series, I have gazed at the memorial and I have talked about the tragedy... a lot. And you know what I found out today? A lot of people didn't even know that it was a real event. It actually disgusts me that someone has obviously known about the film/ TV series, has maybe even watched them, and didn't think to find out if it was true. And anyway, aren't all the best stories based on reality in some form or another?
Nothing gets me upset more than a hugely irresponsible loss of life, and I think that the Titanic is an excellent example of this. Despite several ice warnings, the ship continued to go ahead at full speed, with the lookouts missing their binoculars. Not too long ago, I walked along the an outdoor exhibit of Titanic's boat deck and was shocked to read the number of people in the life boats as opposed to their capacity. Some didn't even carry half of their full capacity. About 2224 people were on board at the time, and only 710 survived. Over 1500 people died that night, including a good few prominent figures.
I thank God that so many enquiries were carried out after the Titanic sank. New maritime regulations were put in place afterwards that I am sure will make us sleep easier if we embark on a ship any time soon. But there are still problems in the ship world. I'm sure we all remember the Concordia capsizing off the west coast of Italy in January this year.
So I think now is the time to remind ourselves of the people who lost their lives 100 years ago, and to pay our homage to those people who have kept the events alive.
Tomorrow, Titanic will sink again. But this time it will only be on our screens and in our hearts.
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