Thus repeatedly yells a Danish kid of about eight two tables away from mine at the hotel terrace. At the top of his voice. And in English. He is staring at his iPhone all the while. There are five more Danish kids at the same table, and all of them are loud as hell. They range from six to twelve. Each one among them is staring at his or her iPhone except one. She is staring at her iPad. The Apple generation for all to see. And “fuck” is their favorite word. In English, as well. Their Danish parents are one table farther away. Three couples in their late forties and early fifties deep in conversation, they pay no attention to the kids. None whatsoever. Not even when the kids occasionally call them “mother” or “father” in Danish. Europe at its best. The subcontinent at its pinnacle at the beginning of the Twenty-First Century. And the best I can do is repeat the yell that comes my way every so often: “What the fuck?!” Well put, kid. You took my words out of my mouth.

Addendum (July 13, 2015)

The vulgar expression of surprise, confusion, or disbelief, as well as annoyance or frustration, comes to my mind ever more often in connection with the Greek financial crisis, which grinds on and on without respite. Europe at its best, to be sure. The subcontinent at its pinnacle at the beginning of the Twenty-First Century… And the Danish kids captured it all in just a few words almost exactly three years ago. I can imagine them uttering it again and again as they keep staring at their iPhones in some other hilltown on their parents’ tourist trail this summer. And the Greek financial crisis occasionally pops up on their screens to their complete and total disbelief and frustration: “What the fuck?!” Come to think of it, the three Danish couples and their children may well be in Greece this summer among summers. Cheep and cheerful, as well as suffused with succulent ancient history of great interest to the Apple generation, the country is hard to miss at this juncture. Indeed, what the fuck?!