Yes, I have a belly! A ridiculous belly of a few centimeters that protrudes above my swimsuit – I heard a young man of about thirty years say under a parasol on the beach, addressing his wife and next to his baby of about six months old. Since he was a towel neighbor and I had nothing else to do stretched under my parasol, I took the opportunity to listen to his monologue in which he explained seeing that enormous protrusion according to him, difficult to see according to what it seemed to me. His abdomen impressed him as if it was covered by a large watermelon that did not allow him to see his knees… Of course – he said – my tummy is of enormous dimensions and enormous sizes. I had no record of its existence until now that I presented it to society… In the end, I would have no stomach if I had devoted myself to what the human species is genetically prepared for, like hunting antelopes with an arrow and running in front of some beast that wanted to snarl at me… -he was saying-. But look at that one for example (referring to another young man who was unfolding a towel a few meters away while with feline agility he took off his shirt showing off the perfect anatomy of his body…) he has no belly and skin as taut as a violin string, and abs on which he can grate parmesan cheese. Of course – my towel neighbor was still saying – he also has a baby, but he’s certainly not giving it the time he’s asking for, and prefers to spend hours in the gym. Watching it reminds me of my belle époque while trying to hide my baby bump. Maybe having a belly is something to be proud of, to show the hours of maternity leave I spent on my daughter while my wife was working, and not like him, who will have prioritized his physique over his duties as a father. Of course… – he continued talking – with Photoshop I can make a movie abdomen in no time at all. At one point my smile was caught by his wife who was also smiling while he suffered from his tiny tummy. I don’t look at my neighbor again – he said – I start the gym on Monday… I would say that it even seemed to us that his little baby who was looking at him was also smiling.
