We have previously discussed the destructive narcissism of tourists who write their names on historic locations or art. This includes the Chinese tourist who wrote on an ancient Egyptian temple or the Russian who carved his name into the Colosseum. An unidentified 55-year-old man from Missouri snapped the finger off a 14th or 15th century marble masterpiece when he decided to measure it by grabbing the hand. Two California women (again strangely allowed to go unidentified) were arrested after carving their names into the Colosseum. Then there was a 126-year-old statue of Dom Sebastian that crashed to the ground and shattered after man climbed on top of its pedestal to take a selfie with the 16th century Portuguese King.
As is the case with many of these certifiable idiots, they not only deface art or landmarks but then often brag about it. Brown posted the picture and added “Had a blast at the Great Wall of China today.”
Brown was immediately denounced for his actions and hurriedly posted an apology:
“I had never been, it was my first time. I wrote my name on the wall in chalk. I saw different writings — I didn’t mean any harm by it. I made a mistake. I could have just put my hand over it and erased it. It will never happen again.
“I’ve been playing in China for three years now and I have the utmost respect for the Chinese culture, and the way of living here. I pretty much adapted, coming from the states, here for three years. My teammates, the fans in Shenzhen and the fans all over were great to me, and I just want to sincerely apologize for that.”
I am unmoved. You are an adult. How much respect do you have for Chinese culture when you want to deface it? The Beijing Municipal Administration of Tourism impose a fine of up to $1,000, which is of course a meaningless amount to a professional athlete. However, it would at least create a record. Community service cleaning the Great Wall would have been more poignant.