When I was growing up there were two types of graffiti prevalent in Athens. First, there was political graffiti, scrawled by supporters of all political parties, but also by anarchists, communists, nationalists, neo-nazis, Christians, etc. Then, there were the scribblings of football team supporters, making use of an elaborate codified system of references that would be entirely opaque to an outsider. A third type, New York style calligraphic tagging, is a more recent development. But overall, the choice of graffiti messages reveals the preoccupations of city dwellers. Isn’t it telling, then, to find these aphoristic references to a popular web site (this one is the first I saw, a few months back), considerately applied to temporary boarding on the streets of London?

I should also mention that as of today I can legally postpone indefinitely the mandatory military service that burdens all Greek men without fear of being declared insubordinate.