Sovereignty of SeaWitch

Before I came to Greece, I spent 12 years in the graphic arts industry. The quote from Michaelangelo basically sums up my job description. Every single ad, brochure, billboard, and logo that was ever produced by my department was the result of the unending quest for perfection. Nothing was too small or insignificant to change. For example, a map appearing in an ad for the US had British spellings for "harbour". Even though the type was almost too small to read, we still spent hundreds of dollars redoing the film to get it right. If our deadline for publication was 9am Monday morning, we would pull all stops trying to meet that deadline--often spending nights and weekends at the office to get it there on time. One of my first jobs was at a newspaper and I remember the editor flying down the stairs from his office in a range because there were 14 spelling errors in that morning's edition of the newspaper. Even in school, every misspelled word cost me a half point in my final grade.

As much as I would have loved to let something slide in the hopes that no one would notice because of all the extra work striving for perfection entails, I couldn't do it. I still can't let things slide. This is why I come home on the verge of a heart attack because my dry cleaning wasn't ready on time, my kitchen cupboards have 2 different face designs (because they broke the router and figured the other design was just as good) or I picked up my car from the car wash and the interior has just as much dust as when I dropped it off for cleaning.

It's ironic in a country where most Greeks are so house-proud and their children look like they've just stepped off a Lapin House billboard that they've become accustomed to shoddy work performed by others. You'll see it in the small things (like the ones I've just mentioned) to the more important things like house construction where my friend's house was designed with a car garage that doesn't have enough space for her to open her car doors. If you ever complain to the female storeowner (whose own house probably would give Martha Stewart a run for her money) that the curtains you just bought from her are full of wrinkles and the wrong length, she'll tell you "Come on now, it's not as if they'll hang in Versailles!"

This lethargic attitude is prevalent everywhere in our society. Is it because we just don't care anymore to go that extra mile? Is it because it really doesn't matter if we do or not? Imagine if the ancient Greeks had taken that kind of attitude when they built the Acropolis or Epidavros. Or if the Romans believed dirt trails were just as good as the roads that they could build. I'm a firm believer that trifles do make masterpieces and masterpieces define our society.