MetaChat - Why Athens is 'Holiday Hell'...

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12 May 2009

Why Athens is 'Holiday Hell'... →[More:] Because falling down and hurting yourself is an unpleasant experience.

This is an odd story, and I'm curious about what actually happened. The reason that I doubt the story as told is that the woman says she walking on the beach, slipped and fell... and, apparently, her friend had to swim "into the sea to fetch my limp unconscious body out of the water." No matter how I picture it, I can't understand this. How did she get out to sea? This is the "sea," not the ocean... there are no crashing waves to pull you out into deeper water. There are teenyweeny little wavelets that lap gently at the shore. I would understand if she fell from some sort of boardwalk, but she says she walking on the beach. Curious.

Anyway, I don't doubt that the hospital staff were rude and etc. (Damn those smiling doctors! Damn them!) and did odd things like attending to the dying person first, and using a needle to stitch her wound. Making her crawl to the x-ray machine? Seems pretty unlikely, but who knows.

Anyway, if you plan on falling down in mysterious circumstances after a late supper, be warned that Athens may not be the perfect holiday destination. The ambulances here apparently jostle one.

post by: taz at: 02:53 | 13 comments

I would like to know how much it cost her. I'd prefer rudeness to bankruptcy, myself.

posted by Meatbomb 12 May | 04:17

And I am guessing alcohol was involved.

posted by Meatbomb 12 May | 04:18

This coming (of course) from the utterly xenophobic, NHS hating Daily Mail.

I can imagine how they'd written this if the story was about a Greek falling in London & USING OUR HEALTH SERVICE LIKE A SWINGEING FOREIGNER. AND THE CASH GUZZLING NHS SPEND OUR TAX PAYERS MONEY SO THAT WE CAN TALK IN THEIR UNGRATEFUL DARKIE LANGUAGES. WHAT A CHEEK. LEARN SOME ENGLISH BEFORE COMING TO OUR COUNTRY DIEGO. IF IT WERE UP TO ME I'D HAVE RUDELY STAPLED HIS CHEEK UP WITH A STAPLE GUN AND SENT HIM HOME ON THE NEXT FERRY TO BRUSSELS. HANGINGS TOO GOOD FOR THEM. ITS POLITICAL CORRECTNESS GONE MAD.

posted by seanyboy 12 May | 04:27

seanyboy, marry me?

posted by Firas 12 May | 04:43

heh.

If I had to guess... um, alcohol was involved? And maybe there were some big rocks that they walked out on? Big, wet, slippery rocks? As opposed to "veiled pebbles"? Otherwise, I just don't see falling into water that was more than ankle deep. And pebbles don't create gashes or break bones - whereas big, wet, slippery rocks one is drunkenly cavorting on might do some damage.

posted by taz 12 May | 05:43

Who Veiled the pebbles? Hmmm?

The clue is in the word VEIL! You know who else likes veils?

posted by seanyboy 12 May | 05:55

It's the Daily Mail. Don't waste your intelligence on it.

posted by altolinguistic 12 May | 06:10

Yeah, but if she says bad things about my city, then all those inebriated, clumsy, whiney, xenophobic Daily Mail readers might not visit here... -oh. right. Good point. Carry on, drunky fall-down girl!

posted by taz 12 May | 06:20

taz, i once slipped into a shallow edge of a beach and it was the worst thing ever. Basically if there's algae on the pebbles you just violently slip through and can forget any chance of climbing back because there is ZERO traction on them.. I had to be quickly pulled out. I guess you can regain your standing if you're alert and physically adept enough but it just all happens very fast. In other words even if the water itself is just, say, thigh-deep, if you're in a prone position you can definitely drown.

posted by Firas 12 May | 06:23

Life on the Daily Mail Island is worth a read.

posted by seanyboy 12 May | 06:35

"The ideal Daily Mail story," a former Mail journalist told me, "should leave you hating someone or something" - this, at least, was the advice he was given by his sub-editor at the time.

heh. I wasn't really aware of the reputation, but now that I think about it, yes, I think I've heard this sort of thing.

posted by taz 12 May | 07:13

I never understood the line in the song Paperback Writer until fairly recently, "His son is working for the Daily Mail". I just assumed that it meant that he was a postal worker.

posted by octothorpe 12 May | 08:59

i once slipped into a shallow edge of a beach and it was the worst thing ever. Basically if there's algae on the pebbles you just violently slip through and can forget any chance of climbing back because there is ZERO traction on them.

I've had the same experience before and yeah, it was scary. But only the Daily Mail can take a rather common occurrence and turn it into The Shock of the Century!!!

posted by muddgirl 12 May | 09:43

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