Nothing brings out the artist more in people than the sight of freshly poured cement. If I had any doubt about this, it was perfectly illustrated by what I witnessed when the local library had its sidewalk renovated.
I remember that I was working as a volunteer at the library, when the construction people came to get rid of the old, broken down sidewalk, really early in the morning. The administrator appointed me the point-person to talk to the construction people and to make sure that the job would be well done.
So there I was watching them tear out the old cement, smooth out the soil, put in some sort of grid, pour the cement or concrete and shape the new sidewalk. When they had finished, the guy in charge of the construction crew came and told me: you better sit out here for the next few hours to make sure people don't come and ruin the nice clean and smooth cement. I thought that he was exaggerating a bit, but I followed his advice.
What transpired next proved his point. It was unbelievable! It was as if some magic alarm had been sounded -- attention world! fresh cement, come make your mark on it! Next thing I know -- there's a whole parade of people coming by- -- all of them trying to write or do something on the wet cement. There were three kids who tried to leave their footprints, the guy who came with his dog to put the paws prints, one teenager who tried to make tracks with the bike, and I lost track of those that wanted to (of course) write their names or draw something.
Whenever they attempted to do any of these things -- it came as a shock to them that I would say ---excuse me! you can't do that! Because, you see -- they were so intent on leaving their impressions that they didn't notice me sitting there on the front door of the library, just looking at them try to damage the surface of the newly built sidewalk. The look of shock on their faces, when they looked up to see me watching them, was fun. But I was glad, at the end of the day, when my job of sidewalk sentinel finally came to an end.
