“Dottoré, do you watch The Sea Beyond on Netflix?”
“No Antonio, sorry.”
“It doesn’t matter. I was just asking because I really like the sea, and would like to see it and go swimming. But the strange thing is that, for us Neapolitans who live in the peripheries, the sea is there — but at the same time it’s as if it weren’t there.”
“But you could take public transport and go to Mergellina to see it!”
“And then what? What do I do once I am there? I can look at it, but to go swimming, I would have to pay at least 20 euros to go to a private lido. The free beaches are full of young people, and you know I can’t be in the middle of a crowd. I would like to go to a nice fine sand beach where there are hardly any people — but without paying. I’ve been told that there’s a place like that near Paestum.”
“And why don’t you go there?”
“Because I would have to renew my driving license, but between papers and certificates you have to bring, it costs 500 euros, and I don’t have it.”
“Antó, I would tell you to hop on a train, but I know it’s complicated for you.”
“Dottoré I would tell you that maybe I could do it, but still, it’s just not fair. Everything has a cost, and even rights have to be paid for — and I’m tired of that. “The sea beyond…” I have the sea inside of me. And maybe it’s even more beautiful like this.”
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