Mastering the Art of Doing Nothing

Pavementism

It has been said that the Greeks have mastered the art of doing nothing purposefully. The wiser older Greeks spend most of their time on pavements and side-walk cafe's discussing their favourite topics, soccer, politics, food, women, philosophy or whatever else grabs their fancy. It’s an ancient tradition that has its origins in the Agora or open place of assembly of Athens. The younger more ambitious Greeks are busy scheming how to take short cuts and swindle their partners, their employers, the government or their relatives for short term gain. They pay no heed to the words of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew which warns us: “What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul.” Similarly the ancient Greeks believed that great riches would be despised but glory never.

The Greeks are otherwise a nation of restless passengers and spectators with great expertise in social commentary. They sit uneasily on the laurels and achievements of their illustrious forefathers, the ancient Greeks. But even the ancient Greeks had slaves to do the chores and lots of time on their hands to develop new theories for the betterment of humanity. The modern Greeks are unlikely to improve the lot of mankind with new theories or by inventing a space shuttle or vacuum cleaner but at least by passing their time debating at their favourite pavement cafes they cause the least harm to society.

My friend and fellow pavement philosopher, Quinten Knox has recently coined a phrase called "Pavementism."* Pavementism is a spontaneous movement which encourages people to slow down and smell the coffee. Its adherents are called pavementistas. Pavementistas are a special breed of very sociable people who happily spend their time on the pavement with absolutely no idea about what they are going to do next. If you are someone who likes drawing up lengthy to-do lists or lives with diaries, deadlines and schedules, then chances are you’re not a pavementista. You’re a stone cold sober realista. Similarly if you’re a devoted fashionista or someone who has children at a private school, you are unlikely to be a pavementista. You are more than likely a reluctant payista.

Pavementistas believe that when they are on the pavement, they are in the midst of life. Enjoying coffee on a pavement somewhere, watching the passing daily parade of people and cars go by and lots of free, unallocated time, is the ultimate ambition of a true pavementista or the summum bonum, the greatest good. Baristas make the coffee and pavementistas drink the coffee. And coffee shops in shopping malls don’t count as worthy destinations for pavementista purists. The coffee shop must have a real pavement and face a public street, square or piazza and be family owned not part of some branded franchise. There are not many original side-walk cafes left and they deserve to be supported and preserved because of the worthy role they play in the social fabric of a neighbourhood.

Diogenes the Cynic was one of the earliest intentional pavementistas and pavement philosophers. He was a 4th century BC philosopher who lived with his faithful hound in a tub on the pavements and side-walk gutters of ancient Athens and Corinth. He walked the streets during daytime with his lantern and staff in search of an honest man and a real human being. But none was to be found. He found only rascals and scoundrels. Diogenes shunned the corrupt practices, earthly pleasures, the vanity, artificialities, pretension and luxuries of Athenian society while extolling the virtues of self-sufficiency, austerity and a simple lifestyle. Alexander the Great went to visit Diogenes and as he stood over the philosopher, who was lying relaxing at the side of the road, the young king asked him whether there was anything he could do for him. Diogenes looked up at Alexander and asked him to stop blocking his sunlight. Alexander was so impressed with this reply that he told his assembled courtiers and generals that if he was not Alexander, he would be Diogenes.

Deliberate and enlightened pavementism is the very antithesis of mindless busyness, haste and multi-tasking. It requires long periods of reflection, observation and contemplation. A pavementista has the rare ability to spend 3 to 4 stress free hours on a pavement everyday, drinking coffee alone or with friends without feeling guilty. Certain nations are better at producing pavementistas than others. The leading countries in the field at the moment are Greece, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, Italy, France and Portugal. In many of the rural villages of Greece and Turkey, the men hang out at the coffee shop, smoking and drinking small cups of dark strong coffee. It’s Greek coffee if you’re in Greece and Turkish coffee if you’re in Turkey, but it tastes and looks the same and is brewed the same way. The women are prepared to work the fields for the sake of peace in the home and to keep the men happy. They deem it a better compromise than sending them off to war or to some distant factory or mine. Japan has not produced any noteworthy pavementistas but it has produced many legendary train gropers and frotteurs. Unfortunately the Protestant work ethic and misguided Nazi inspired notions that work shall set you free has killed pavementism as a movement in many countries. Guilt, fear and ego are currently recognized as the three main obstacles to becoming a successful pavementista. Pavementistas find their inspiration on the pavement. They are usually sensitive creative types like poets, artists, day-dreamers, layabouts, writers and pavement philosophers. But they can also be plumbers, electricians, hashish smokers, voyeurs, pimps, drug-dealers, cigarette vendors, arms dealers, car salesmen, unemployed stock brokers and commodities traders.

I have bumped into many retired bankers, civil servants and former CEO’s, mostly in Greece. They still have a manic, harassed look on their faces like they’re being hunted or chasing some elusive prize. They don’t get it. They clutch small leather strap pouches and are always in a rush, continuously running around town, doing errands for their wives, buying stamps, dog food and paying utility bills. They cannot relax and find it very difficult to become pavementistas. They are fatally addicted to their own busyness and self-importance. They are busy merely for the sake of being busy.

Admittedly many who aspire to join the movement are trapped by their present circumstances. Many might ask how does one become a pavementista when you have a full-time job, mortgage, car payments, overdrafts, kids at school, and a disgruntled mother- in- law. Zorbas full catastrophe in other words. You’re a highly paid professional who works 18 hour days. You work to pay an ever growing list of bills and your clients make huge demands on your time and headspace. You get home shattered, with energy levels depleted and spend very little quality time with your family. Your spouse is stuck with you either out of economic necessity, dependence or habit. Your children are distant and aloof. How can you ever become a pavementista? It’s fine for a while if you really love what you do but otherwise it’s a tough situation for most people on the relentless daily treadmill with clients and corporates making ever increasing demands on exhausted, burnt-out people. Life becomes an endurance test. You’re a zombie on weekends, feeling like you’ve just done 15 rounds in the ring with Mike Tyson.

The words of American writer Henry Thoreau come to mind when he said: "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation." If you’re chained to your desk and find yourself like I once did staring out the window of your corner office, desperate to escape and longing for freedom and a simpler life, you start by becoming a frequent escapista, the first rung on the ladder before graduating with eventual pavementista status. You run out for a quick cup of coffee. Once a week is not enough. You gradually build up your fitness, tolerance and exposure levels until you can spend more time out of the office without feeling remorse or guilt. You may however need to opt for a pared down lifestyle, give up the big house, crippling payments and the shiny BMW that’s killing you every month and trade down for a Toyota Yaris and a small apartment. Are you prepared to trade your illusory status and fleeting possessions for more freedom and less money?

Some critics condemn the lifestyle of committed pavementistas as being non-productive and irresponsible. These critics are usually corporate raiders who specialize in gambling with other peoples money and pension fund fraud. Pavementistas have also been accused of being "social Velcro" and "pavement sluts" who live on the fringes and margins of society eating the crumbs that fall off the corporate dining tables. This is simply false. It is true however that genuine pavementistas have simple tastes and needs usually satisfied with a quick shot of the finest Arabica but otherwise they are non-conformists with little time for the conventions, norms and demands of polite and organized society. As a rule however, pavementistas are peace loving, mild-mannered, non-competitive and very tolerant phlegmatic types. They only become militant when they are forced to attend formal functions, wait in queues or renew their driver’s license.

Some commentators refer to dedicated pavementistas as “pavement specials.” This description is usually reserved to describe dogs lacking some form of pedigree. This analogy is completely understandable but while pavementistas share many common traits with mans best friend, they are not dogs. Dogs will eat anything then lick their balls and relieve themselves in public. Dogs however have their virtues. They are companionable, honest and faithful. Like dogs pavementistas can happily sit outside for hours sunning themselves, content to live in the present without anxiety, without dwelling on the past or worrying about the unfathomable and unpredictable future.

Pavementistas believe that speed; busyness, cocktail parties, social climbing and corporate networking are extremely dangerous to your health. Research shows that health is linked to higher levels of education and status. PhD’s and respectable members of the community who contribute their time and energy to society are supposed to be healthier. Scientific studies also confirm however that people who meet and socialize every day with friends over coffee on the pavement tend to be happier and live longer. The pavement is egalitarian and democratic. It is the modern Agora. It is the great leveler among men, the forum and marketplace of ideas. In ancient Rome, the forum served as the central public meeting place where people gathered to air their views, to seek justice and to restore their faith and hope. The pavement revives this ancient custom.

Senior pavementistas of many years service and experience become the doyens and ambassadors of the Pavementista movement. They then become elevated to "boulevardier" status on account of their peripatetic lifestyle and the numerous pavement cafes that they have visited all over the world. This is the same as being a "Chevalier" or knight of the pavement. This gives them the right to hold court, to join in on any pavement discussion and offer their views and counsel without invitation. They also mediate in disputes between feuding pavementistas, but this is very rare.

When pavementistas look back on their life, they never regret the happy hours spent with friends and loved ones drinking coffee on the pavement. They are comforted by the immortal lines of T.S.Eliot:

“For I have known them all already, known them all -,
Have known the evenings, mornings and afternoons,
I have measured my life with coffee spoons.”


Costas Ayiotis
25 October 2008
Waterkloof, Pretoria.

Aspiring pavementistas should also read “For the Love of Coffee & Diogenes the Cynic” posted in the archive of this blog. *For a description and definition of Pavementism, also go to http://www.quintenknox.blogspot.com/