Naples, the eternal city of passion and unexpected events, holds a somewhat mocking record: it is the Italian capital of the "chronically forgetful," with a record 7.191 firefighter interventions to open blocked doors and windows.
Data in hand, 2024 ended as the worst year in the last ten, with a national total of 164.297 emergency calls for this reason alone – an average of 450 per day, transforming firefighters into trusted locksmiths for the entire peninsula.
The ranking of the most "forgetful" provinces is merciless: after Naples, Turin with 6.786 cases, Rome with 6.363, and Genoa, which closes the quartet of the "worst" with 5.128 reports.
But it's the weekend that really sets off the bomb: Sunday emerges as the busiest day, with peaks in requests that overwhelm the control centers, followed closely by Saturday and Friday. Imagine the scene: families trapped outside, children hungry for snacks, and singles cursing their last wild night out.
It's not fiction, it's routine
This "army of the forgetful" grows year after year, from North to South, like an unstoppable tide.
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A leap that reflects the frenetic pace of modern life: the frenzy of morning traffic trying not to be late for work, the anxiety of deadlines that clouds the mind, or that one too many drinks in the evening that turns your pockets into hellish labyrinths.
In Naples, the cocktail is explosive: urban chaos, narrow streets where a lost key is an epic drama, and that Neapolitan fatalism that says "silence gives consent... to a closed padlock."
But beyond the numbers, there's a human and social cost that shouldn't be underestimated. Each intervention takes away precious time from firefighters, already heroic in dealing with wildfires and natural disasters. And for families? Stress, unexpected expenses for private locksmiths, and that sense of vulnerability that looms like a shadow.
Expert psychologists interviewed – from university studies on distraction and urban stress – point to an increasingly "connected but disconnected" Italy: smartphones that steal attention, extreme multitasking, and a fleeting well-being that gives way to oblivion.
What can be done to reverse the trend? The police suggest keeping duplicate keys with trusted neighbors, emergency codes for smart locks, or simply a daily "breathing session" to combat the rush. Meanwhile, Naples laughs and cries for itself: a nation of forgetful people, yes, but with hearts as big as Vesuvius. And who knows, maybe the next lost key will inspire a song by Pino Daniele. Or another record.
Comments (1)
It seems strange to me that Naples is the capital of the forgetful. Sure, there are many firefighter interventions, but I don't know if it's fair to call them that. Perhaps modern life makes us forget things. We need to think about it.