Could it be one of those ‘Only in Malta’ jokes?

I get very tired of a certain attitude which tries to attribute every known defect specifically to the Maltese – They always do this, they never do that they all do the latter – always, of course, with the unwritten caveat “…except me…).

It’s just racism in reverse, really. If I say that “all blacks are stupid” I would be called a racist, and rightly so. But for some people it seems to be cool to do the same with the Maltese. Mur ifhem.

“Thai cameramen who had gathered at the scene tried to film Nathan’s body on the floor of the pump room. But grief-stricken Mr Clark attacked them, lashing out with a spanner.

Police have ordered him to pay the cameramen £220 in compensation over the incident.

Mr Clark, who works for international tunnel construction firm Robbins, added: ‘I was distraught with what had happened. When I saw the intrusive cameramen I lashed out. ”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1199161/British-boy-14-drowns-sucked-swimming-pool-pump-Thai-resort.html#ixzz0LRcUyUPM&D

Mario, I can think of a couple of your contemporaries who are now “members of the legal and professional community”. I’d drop the “fine upstanding” bit in most cases, though.

… and then there was the time when a young mother crashed on the Salina/Burmarrad Road short-cut. Luckily, neither she nor her two young children (both under six) were badly injured, though the car had to be cut open by the SAG for the mother to be freed. The car was left on the scene, while the driver and passengers were taken to hospital by ambulance … and the children’s toys, Pokemon cards, etc, were stolen from the car. How low can one go?

He didn’t serve any prison time. I believe he was sentenced to ten years,

fine upstanding? They weren’t, then, were they?

Mario: There’s involvement and there’s curiosity. Involvement implies some sense of responsibility which, in some cases, means moving away rather than standing and staring or trying to lend a hand, as opposed to trying to get a piece of the action. Curiosity, on the other hand, is just an irresponsible invasion of someone else’s privacy, and can be put down to indifference to, rather than interest in, the victim.

There’s a parallel between the gawpers at an accident site and the sort of social vultures who circle round a hearse at a funeral, lighting cigarettes, air kissing, shrieking at the top of their voices and gushing all over each other, while the real mourners stand around looking bewildered and feeling desperate.

That’s what I meant. Why, when police are on site, aren’t the nosey-parkers asked to move away?