[imagesource:twitter/LuigiBrugnaro]

Ahh… Venice. The city of love, canals, and apparently ‘idiotic’ tourists.

Anyone who lives in a city that is heavily dependent on tourism will know that travellers often do stupid things that irk the locals.

Not only does Venice have to deal with tourists swimming and surfing in the canals, damaging property and even posing topless on war memorials, but now the mayor had to call out a tourist who thought it a good idea to ‘cliff-dive’ from a three-storey building into the canal below.

Venice’s Mayor Luigi Brugnaro seems to have had enough as he vented on Twitter about the ‘idiot’ who jumped, saying that he would love to give the man a “certificate of stupidity and a lot of kicks”. The annoyed mayor has posted a video of the incident on Twitter and vowed that the man, who was shown wearing only his boxers, as well as his accomplice will be arrested.

The mayor seems to have come to the conclusion just like the rest of us that whenever something truly stupid happens, you can be assured that it’s a TikTok video in the making.

“We are trying to identify him, to report him, him and his buddy below who made the stupid video for social media.”

Hopefully, by posting the video on his Twitter page, the mayor has spoiled the man’s ‘premier’ of his belly flop.

A questo “soggetto” bisognerebbe dargli un certificato di STUPIDITÀ e un bel sacco di pedate … stiamo cercando di identificarlo, per denunciarlo, Lui e il suo compare sotto che faceva il video cretino per i social .. pic.twitter.com/lrzaIzy516

— Luigi Brugnaro (@LuigiBrugnaro) March 24, 2023

Regardless of whether the man is an idiot, the belly flop must have really hurt. The mayor has urged everyone to refrain from ‘liking’ the video, thereby encouraging other ‘idiots’ to attempt similar stunts for that elusive ‘viral video’.

“They do these stupid things on social media for the likes.”

Despite the US, and now Canada as well, worrying about TikTok spying on them, it has to be said that the social media world is a breeding ground for Darwin Awards. People do the most outrageous things in the hope that they will be the next trending video, and unfortunately, well-known landmarks are the perfect backdrop for their stunts.

Last year more than 40 tourists were arrested for swimming in the canals, whilst elsewhere, a Saudi tourist drove his rented Ferrari down the iconic Spanish Steps in Rome. This perhaps to ‘one-up’ another lady who sent her scooter flying down the same stairs.

Even the statues in the Vatican museum have been smashed by tourists in what we can only assume was a TikTok/Youtube stunt.

It’s high time we rename the Darwin Awards to The TikTok Awards.

[source:cnn]