You know how sometimes you hear about an idea that at first seems reasonable but later turns out to be terrible?
Well, this isn’t one of those ideas.
This is an idea that from the moment you hear about it seems to be completely horrible. And then, after thinking about it for a few seconds, you realize that it’s even worse than you thought.
According to numerous media reports, which I read online when I was supposed to be working, a company is building an exact replica of the Titanic and plans to sail it on the original Titanic’s first and only route.
You might have heard about the Titanic’s first and only route. It didn’t go so well and not just because later, in the 1990’s we had to listen to that irritating Celine Dion song.
In 1912, the ship set sail from Southampton, England, to New York and hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic. The Titanic — to use a technical sailing expression — sank like a rock.
It seems to me that building a replica of a ship involved in one of the worst ocean liner accidents in history and then sailing that replica on the exact same route the original ship took when it sank is testing karma more than a little bit.
I’ve written about karma before and how it’s never a good idea to mess with it because, as I’ve said many times, karma can be a disagreeable person.
And it’s not as if karma hasn’t tried to warn the Blue Star Line, the company planning the second sailing of the Titanic, before.
The first time was in 1912. You know, when it sank the original Titanic.
The second time was in 2015, when, according to numerous media reports, the company was forced to “stop work on the Titanic II because of financial disagreements.”
You would have thought that in 2015 someone would have said, “Hey, wait a minute, guys. Maybe someone is trying to tell us something here. Maybe someone is trying to tell us that this is a horrible idea and WOULD YOU STOP PLAYING THAT DANM CELINE DION SONG.”
But no, the folks at the Blue Star Line decided to go on and on.
Sorry about that.
Last month, the Blue Star Line announced it was continuing its work to finish the Titanic II at a cost of $500 million and hopes to set sail in 2022.
According to numerous media reports, the Blue Star Line plans to carry on its first voyage 2,400 passengers and 900 crew members, which USA Today reported is “almost the exact number of each on board the boat that sank in 1912.”
Karma, after just reading that: “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?”
Of course, this time the Blue Star Line says the ship will have the appropriate number of lifeboats, life jackets and additional modern safety features.
Of course.
I don’t know this for a fact, but I’m pretty sure that the people selling tickets on the original Titanic also said that the ship would have the appropriate number of lifeboats, life jackets and additional modern safety features.
You know, right after telling everyone that the Titanic was unsinkable.
Once finished with the Titanic II, the company plans to begin work on a second project, which I may have just made up: “The Hindenburg II.”
Company officials hope to fly the Hindenburg II into New Jersey in 2025.
Are you listening, karma?