Chivalry Is Alive in Italy

“I didn’t even have a life jacket because I had given it to one of the passengers. I was trying to get people to get into the boats in an orderly fashion. Suddenly, since the ship was at a 60–70° angle, I tripped and I ended up in one of the boats. That’s how I found myself in the lifeboat.”
 — Wow! Captain Francesco Schettino of the ill-fated Costa Concordia cruise liner gives an official explanation of why he abandoned ship last Friday. (The transcript of his conversation with the Italian coast guard on the night of the accident is equally fascinating.) Sadly, however, Schettino is already married — but according to his wife, he has “absolute dedication to his job and his professionalism,” and she requests that everyone “understand the tragedy and human drama he is going through.”