I didn’t hear it often during my childhood years, but on occasion one of my parents would say, “You’re old enough to know better than that.” Trust me, it only took hearing that phrase once before I realized it was an expression I didn’t want repeated. It was always cloaked with an admonishment to do it differently going forward. The expression is closely akin to, “How many times do I have to tell you?” It was never music to my ears. Perhaps if I had been focused on a funeral dirge it might have been.
Sometimes music can set the tone for an emotional response. Music can either soothe the soul or orchestrate a sense of suspense and approaching danger. If you question that reality, how do you respond when you hear what I refer to as “shark music?”
Do you remember the theme song from the movie “Jaws”? John Williams, composer of the score, received an academy award for his work. “The main shark theme, a simple alternating pattern of two notes- variously identified as “E and F” or “F and F sharp” – became the classic piece of suspense music, synonymous with approaching danger. Williams described the theme as ‘grinding away at you, just as a shark would do, instinctual, relentless, unstoppable.’ The piece was performed by tuba player Tommy Johnson. When asked by Johnson why the melody was written in such a high register and not played by the more appropriate French horn, Williams responded that he wanted it to sound ‘a little more threatening’’”.
The movie is the story of life on Amity Island, a picturesque fictional community in a New England resort town. A great white shark threatens the town’s existence. As the movie opens, a young woman leaving an evening beach party on Amity Island decides to go swimming. Unfortunately, something underwater violently drags her around and pulls her under.
If you didn’t see the movie, it would be difficult for you to believe the story line. Honestly, could anything like this happen in real life? A deputy discovers the young woman’s body on the beach and the medical examiner concludes her death is the result of a shark attack. The police chief appropriately wants to immediately close the town’s beaches. The town’s Mayor redirects the police chief fearing the report of a shark attack would destroy the summer tourist industry. Since tourism is the primary source of income for the town, there had to be another explanation for the woman’s death. The medical examiner was obviously wrong. Her death had to be the result of a boating accident. It is an unbelievable story line isn’t it? Could anything like that ever really happen?
As the story unfolds, the next victim of the great white shark is a young boy. His mother offers a $3,000 bounty on the shark. To say there were folks who took the bait is an understatement. It proved to be a very suspenseful movie.
I vividly recall seeing the movie at a theatre in New Orleans in 1975. Could that really be forty years ago? I was in New Orleans for a training session at Tulane University. I’m not sure how I carved out the time to go to a movie, but to this day I could describe to you the large white building and the theatre marque.
Later in the movie fisherman catch a large tiger shark. I was as gullible as the townsfolk who mistakenly thought the problem was solved. There is a following scene where the two men hunting for the great white shark discover the wreckage of a small sunken boat. As they turn the boat over, the dismembered head of the boat’s owner is prominently visible.
It was an impactful and unexpected scene. I didn’t see that coming. You are probably wondering if I screamed in fright? Most people would have. Actually, I don’t remember the answer to that question. I do remember that my heart skipped a beat.
“ You’re old enough to know better than that.” I had that thought when I read on Thursday that a 68-year old man on Ocracoke Island, North Carolina had been badly injured by a shark. The man was swimming outside the first breaker. He was pulled under water on Wednesday by a shark measuring about 7 feet in length. He sustained bites to his rib cage, hip, lower leg and both hands. The man was pulled from the water leaving a trail of blood. He was subsequently taken by air ambulance to the hospital.
A day earlier, a 12-year old boy was bitten in the leg while swimming in knee-deep water off Isle of Palms, South Carolina.
Did I mention the shark attack on Wednesday was the 7th shark attack along the North Carolina shore in the past three weeks? Help me with my cognitive thought processes. Why would anyone take the risk of swimming along that coast?
Reportedly, according to George H. Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research at the Florida Museum of Natural History, “A number of factors are orchestrating the increase of shark attacks. The drought conditions reduce the amount of freshwater making it to the sea, which creates an environment along the shore where higher levels of salt attract more fish and sharks”. He offered a cautionary word when interviewed by CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360°” on Wednesday night. “This is a situation that we can’t ignore, as we’ve had a number of attacks that are serious within a short period of time.”
“There’s something going on there, there’s no doubt about that. It’s a perfect storm of environmental and biological variables as well as human activity,” Burgess said. But in a column Thursday for CNN.com, Burgess warned against overstating the threat of shark attacks. Opinion: Don’t be scared of shark attacks”.
Apparently, a number of other folks were on the same beach in North Carolina Wednesday when the 68-year old man was attacked had no fear. It defies belief, but they opted to go back into the water. Someone obviously should have told them, “You’re old enough to know better than that”.
All My Best!
Don
Carpe Diem 