Italophile

American student molested on the bus, 76-year-old man arrested from Il Messaggero:

A 76 year-old, from the province of Perugia, was arrested by the Roman police with the accusation of sexual assault. While traveling on a 64 bus, the old man repeatedly touched the intimate parts of an American student. Two anti-mugging agents assisted at the scene and immediately intervened, handcuffing him. The man was taken the the Regina Coeli jail.

First of all: gross. Secondly: 76 and still fondling? That’s almost impressively pathetic. Shows a certain amount of determination, I guess, since we all know frottage isn’t all fun and games.

There are a few other weird things about this story. For one, it happened on the 64, a line notorious for overcrowding, pickpockets and general skeeviness. I wonder how much of this kind of stuff goes unreported, and if it’s significant that the victim (who reported the incident) was American. Are Americans more aware of this kind of stuff? I think with all the sexual discrimination training and sensitivity seminars we have to attend, it’s certainly possible.

This reminds me of an article in the Times a few months back, about single-sex buses. My impression is that single-sex transportation is that it probably creates more problems (separate-but-equal situations, scheduling issues, etc) than it solves, but it’s certainly a creative solution.