Hot Off The Press

Photo By Dorit Beller De-Beer

The sounds of the heavy steps rushing up and down in the building's stairwell would alway startle me. I'd quickly fall back asleep and forget about it. Later when I woke up I would open the door, and there it laid, that crisp brand new newspaper. 

Every day without fail this managed give me that little ting of exciting joy 'oh what interesting piece of news will I discover today'. It held a sense of promise. 

Never mind that on some occasions I was lucky enough to be part of the team that helped bring the newspaper to life, translating away foreign news items that would hit the AP or Reuters feed (and this pre facebook age mind you). 

Newspapers are exciting and I forgot how much they are. 

Recently with the new political atmosphere we made a decision, we need to go back and become more media literate, know our facts, dig deeper to a story. Prompt our kids to see headlines, ask questions, expose them beyond the sheltered world which they are so so privilege to live in. Quest beyond a feed. 

That is starting to happen, but I also noticed some other things happen. 

I noticed how mono-news-feed assaulted we are, how the structure of a broadsheet paper allows you to physically pick and chose what and how much you want to read. How shallow our news feeds have become, how hard it is to sit and actually read through a whole article of more than 200 words. How limiting it is to our thought process when the news feed is algorithm curated to you, without the freedom of accidental diversion from a set path. The sense of adventure is lost, and with it the joy of discovery. Something very crucial to humans is slowly extinguishing, the deep sense of curiosity that drives us to challenge what is around us, and create new things that have deeper meaning. 

I was reminded how having limited physical space, as you do with printed matter, makes for better higher quality writing, that content put into print creates a bigger commitment to the subject matter. 

Same as with literal spaces, the more constraints one has the more accurate and thoughtful the design of that space will be. That sometimes less is more. 

And that I still have that small ting of excitement in me to see what the front page headline would be. That I like stepping outside in the cold for just a second to grab the paper, smell the crisp air, pause and readjust my new/old found rhythm to a start of a new day. 

The culture of coffee and the lost art of human interaction

I miss it, I really do miss it.

That feeling of just dropping my bag on the ground, leaning back inside the chair, adjusting my sunglasses, and just asking for it -- "Small cappuccino please". A few minutes later, after I managed to take a deep breath, say hello to the person I walked in with, and the aroma filled cup lands at my table, with a side of a small butter cookie. No paper cups here, no lines to stand in while non communicating cell phone glaring humans surround me, no offensive cheap cleaning detergent smell, no dry or cold baked goods. Instead there are sounds of people talking over each other while glaring music surrounds them, the sound of actual spoons clinking on the sides of the cup, a sharp smell of fresh salad being chopped. A constant feeling of something in the air. 

This is not utopia, this place does not just exist in my mind, these coffee houses are commonly found in almost every main street sidewalk, shopping mall, beach, desert, and even some gas stations all around Israel. 

I dare say it is one of the biggest cultural shocks I refuse to adjust too (that, and being told I can get 'cash back'). That fleeting moment of known theater, sitting back, and being seen for a just a millisecond. It as almost as someone stopped time just for you and asked you without too many words "Are you ok?". 

The lost culture of cafe idling is strongly tied to the high demanding office culture. That has yet to make the shift. Most people are expected to be in their work stations by a certain time. The only mark of rebellion is if you are able to walk into the office holding a logoed paper cup -- it signals to all "look at me! I'm so efficient with my time I even managed to drive through and get this lukewarm black something". There is true effort being made to shift in the office coffee culture, by bringing in state of the art coffee machines, some places go as far as bringing in a personal barista crew to your office twice a month. But it's all very artificial. As you are having coffee with the same homogeneous group of self selected people, without the outside world touching you even for a moment.  

Cafes are human interaction sanctuaries.

 

In Europe cafes were the meeting junctions of many thinkers who could cross reference ideas between disciplines. They are a place where the construction worker, the foreigner, the business person, the tired parent, the young student, all walks of life -- can for a moment have eye contact, possible real human interaction -- if they would only be allowed that moment of 'being seen' and offloaded of this pseudo artificial atmosphere of the 'small, medium or large' paper cup battle hymn. That is not a human way to have coffee, it's as if we are race cars stopping for a pit stop.

In the bedouin culture, a culture of nomads who live in the scorching desert sands, the coffee ceremony is very intricate and particular. Three cups are poured. The first will be tasted by the host, showing the guest the coffee is safe, the second will be drank by the guest himself, and then a third cup will be poured to show hospitality, and allow the guest time to talk and feel safe without being rushed out. 

I really do miss it.