Our guide led us down a narrow street in Cartegena where we encountered a man sitting on the pavement painting local scenes on little rectangle mirrors. He promised to demonstrate his technique by finishing a mirror in "two minutes, uh, maybe 20 seconds." He worked rapidly and a steady hand, working mostly with his fingers but adding a few fine brush strokes near the end. Everyone seemed mesmerized. I don't think anyone was timing him. When he finished he drew applause from the tour group. The guide translated the deal for him: one mirror for $7, or two for $10. The bargain hunters in our group knew a deal when they saw one. I don't think anyone bought just one mirror. Ours grace the wall in the foyer, a reminder of our trip to Colombia. I wondered if our guide gets a cut, or if the painter is his brother-in-law.
I came upon this scene in Aruba, but it’s a universal phenomenon. The women shop and the men look for a place to sit. This would be a good entry for a funny parody account on Instagram called “Shopping With Their Ladies: The Miserable Men of Instagram.” A couple of years ago, a mall in Shanghai introduced “husband rest cabins”, spaces with comfortable leather chairs and video games where husbands could relax while their wives shop to their heart’s content. It wasn’t quite so fancy in Aruba.
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