Trickle down trash

NAPLES, Italy — Perception from afar can be a funny thing. We’re just back from a week in Naples, where the English-language news channels (CNN and BBC) make it sound like the world has ended and a mound of garbage threatens to bury the city as nearby Mt. Vesuvius inundated Pompeii. What none of the reporters bothered to mention is that, like many European cities, Naples has centralized trash collection points where people bring their garbage. The piles (and they are huge) are around overflowing dumpsters. It’s important to realize that Naples is a stunning city, and Neapolitans are proud of it. Wherever we went, they apologized profusely for the trash, embarrassed that their government had broken down. (Despite foreign reports, local sentiment is that the government has failed to issue the garbage contracts and it’s only natural that trash men won’t work without getting paid.) And contrary to CNN et al., it’s still a gorgeous place to visit—even under a Berlusconi government.

Posted by Patricia Harris and David Lyon