The images that flow on the smartphone screen have something surreal: two soldiers of the Italian army (amphibians, camouflage suit and bulletproof vest) walk under a torrid sun near the sea. I am a man and a woman, spaced about ten meters apart; he proceeds cautiously, Beretta 92 pistol on his belt, while she, Beretta ARX 160 submachine gun leveled and magazine inserted, seems to give cover to the fellow soldier. If you know how to use ARX it can dry up to 30 enemies or terrorists. With the two 15-round magazines of his 92 the colleague could do the same.
Years ago Edoardo Vianello, the singer, might have thought he was dealing with two soldiers engaged in a mission outside the area on some beach with the "sunburnt sand" in a remote corner "of the black continent". None of this. Apart from the sea, could one think of Kabul then? No. Maybe in Nassirya? Neither. In Bala Murgab? Macchè, we are in Liguria, in Ventimiglia, on a beach heated by the unusual heat of an unusual summer. The anti-covid mask worn by the two does not improve the situation. Suddenly the tension rises because in the movie you can see a young lady in two pieces who is about to cross the two soldiers, The man sharpens his gaze to find out ... if the lady in bichini wears or not the anti-covid mask. Yes, the lady is in order and the man relaxes ... so to speak, because from the flexible gait and from the eyes of the bather emanates a charm that does not escape the soldier. Indeed, to tell the truth it makes his veins tremble a little.
After the lady has passed the two soldiers, the man turns to make sure that the Italian citizen has not shrewdly got rid of the mask. No, she hasn't taken it off ... but the eyes of the lady, seen from behind, acquire an even greater charm so that the imperturbable soldier trembles a little too much. Fortunately, the boiling feet imprisoned in overheated amphibians paradoxically end up cooling his enthusiasm. Behind her, the girl-soldier senses and smiles indulgently. After the round of surveillance and control, the two stop in a kiosk before returning to the barracks.
"What do you think about it?"he asks.
"I think I feel uncomfortable. When I enrolled, I didn't think I had to carry out trivial lifeguard tasks or something".
"Let us console ourselves by thinking about who has been mobilized to deal with 'waste emergencies'"
"It's true, but ... not to be picky, but I would have preferred to be employed for ... what do I know? ... counteracting illegal immigration along our coasts. It seems that the situation is out of control ... "
The man interrupts her and blurts out: "It looks? The casino is total! By now they arrive on the Sicilian, Sardinian, Calabrian and Apulian coasts, and I am convinced that they also arrive at night and above all where there are no swimmers ready to alert the police. Those who are intercepted at sea or taken to the African coast are crammed into centers where many run away, starting with the prejudiced and repeat offenders already expelled in the past. It is shaking to imagine how many of these covid 19 positive individuals are around Italy. And all this while you, me and the Italians are being subjected to the extension-mask until next October ".
"But how come these people come to Italy at the risk of ..."
“Because for them Italy is a blast: they are welcomed, maintained, assisted ... and they do what they want. Then in Italy health care is far better than that of their home, so those who are sick or simply give birth to Italy are the solution at hand. Furthermore, the Italian judiciary is always on their side ... ".
This time she is the one who interrupts the comrade: "As a woman and as a soldier my blood went up when I learned of a sentence uttered by the consultant of the equal opportunities committee of the Court of Appeal of Salerno: we cannot expect an African to know that a woman cannot be raped on a beach in Italy. When the lawyer Carmen Digenio made this statement (a woman, mind you) nobody jumped on the chair nor did the voice of the beautiful feminist souls rise. I wonder what I did wrong and what did Italy do wrong to deserve this degradation ".
The man smiles ironically: “In the meantime, your consultant-woman should have expanded the scope of the rapists to include city parks such as Monte Stella, in Milan, where a lady was raped by a senegale. For what concerns the prolongation of the state of emergency it seems to be a necessary and appreciated measure because allows you to rent ships for the health surveillance of migrants".
"You are making a fool of me?"
“No, these are the textual words not improvised but read in Parliament, and therefore meditated, by the Prime Minister. It is also argued that the prolongation of the emergency would serve to protect us from covid 19, even if the survival rate of this disease, above 99.6%, is a far more reassuring percentage than those concerning most of the other infections and oncological, cardio-circulatory and other diseases. The real problem is and will be how to manage and maintain this mass of irregular immigrants in the future. Even excluding those who will devote themselves to prostitution and drug dealing, where competition is fierce but the market remains flourishing and constantly expanding, the others will have to weigh on Italian taxpayers, who therefore will have to work harder and give up something. As for us soldiers, I hope that our leaders will not listen to the new requests of the mayor Raggi who would also take us to check the Gypsy-Roma camps, where Roma I think is for Romans, or to those of the Minister Lamorgese who wants us as vigilantes in the centers to welcome migrants, who have now become covid 19 outbreaks. But I admit that I have some fear, given that the formula 'I will let the army intervene' is always done in a peremptory and threatening tone, almost Mussolini's. Even if the news reports on it, as for any news regarding illegal immigration, only if and after the information has spread on smartphones, it is all too evident that the situation is not under control ... and I cannot help less to think about the danger that I risk to represent for the health of my family and my old people. Better to fight terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan or Africa; but as long as I am in Italy I would prefer not to deal with Roma, illegal immigration, urban waste and anything that is not strictly linked to natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, fires and similar disasters. At this point ... I almost prefer to continue doing the vigilante-masks on this beach 'with the sand burned by the sun' ".
(Dialogue is an author's fantasy work)
