“Who’s gonna clean it up?"
On its maiden voyage to Paradise, the crew of the Brazilian Titanic, at the behest of some of the First Class passengers, threw a party. As the ship slowed and eventually stopped and dropped anchor after striking an iceberg of reality, the party grew more raucous.
With the engines stopped, those in the engine room ascended to the main deck and joined the party. Things quickly got out of control and the party turned into a wild frenzy.
The champagne was broken out and rapidly consumed. That was followed by a raid on the bar and later even the infirmary where even the cough syrup was consumed.
The Executive Officer who had been trying to maintain order aboard ship was frantically running around with his staff putting the revelers in the brig as he caught them stealing everything that was not nailed down – flatware, china, paintings, even light fixtures and light bulbs.
The party eventually slowed down as the booze and even the cough syrup ran out. As the noise abated, some passengers timidly emerged from their cabins and were shocked to see the deck strewn with food scraps, broken furniture, empty bottles, and trash.
They were startled to see crew members walking around with their uniforms akimbo, some wearing their hats backward and staggering around the deck, still drunk.
The captain of the Brazilian Titanic remained at the helm holding on desperately to a wheel that no longer functioned and mumbling incoherently while plotting and re-plotting the course to Paradise, apparently oblivious to the mess on deck and unable to simply join the party. (The burden of command weighs heavy!)
The passengers stare dumbfounded at the chaos and no longer wonder if they will get to Paradise. They are now concerned for whether they will get anywhere at all and will simply have to live in the midst of the rubble for as long as it takes to clean up and then repair the ship.
Such is the current condition of the once luxurious Brazilian Titanic. It is now little more than the trash-laden skeleton of a luxury liner. When the seas get a little rougher, water covers the deck strewing the trash and the garbage around.
I’m sure you can conjure up a picture of this metaphor in your mind!
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