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 On our travels whilst in Europe we frequent museums, which for those robed readers under 40 who live on their phones, a museum is a place that acts as a depository of art and artifacts. In the art exhibits, the painting is displayed and many times a brief description of the artist and the provenance of the painting, along with some information about the painting, is displayed next to the painting. 

So for example, a Monet of a Bridge over a pond of Waterlilies might contain a brief description of Monet's garden and the specifics of this waterlily painting- Monet made many paintings of waterlilies. 

Monet's iconic bridge over waterlily

We have noticed a disturbing trend, mostly amongst Americans and Chinese females.  (NB- there is NOTHING politically incorrect to note that a particular race and sex seems to act in a certain way if the objective evidence backs up the observation. If you feel otherwise, stuff it.) *

They are racing from painting to painting, taking a picture of the painting with their phone, then taking a picture of the description, and then racing on to the next one. There is no quiet contemplation of the strokes in a Van Gogh haystack, or a Monet waterlily. There is no re-wiring of the brain; no soothing conversation of beta waves into alpha waves.  Just a race to record the art and the description on their phone- which you can get by buying any book in the gift store about the exhibit. 

It's sad. It's depressing. There's a miracle in Van Gogh's repeated painting of large cypress trees in Arles, or the satisfaction of discovering the reflection of a branch overhanging a pond in the water, in a Monet. 

So, if you find your way to a museum, something we sadly lack in South Florida, and Florida for that matter...relax. You don't need to take a picture of Starry Night. Everyone (robed readers excepted) knows the painting. We don't need to see it on your Snap-toc, or a selfie of you standing in front of it on IG. Look at the art; absorb it; let it soothe your soul (except for robed readers north of the border who have no soul); and if need be, invite a friend out for a glass of wine at a cafe and explain what it meant to gaze upon Starry Night, and how it moved you. 

Starry Night 

In other words, stop and smell the roses and gaze upon the haystacks and waterlilies.  It will do more for you than a well written response to a misbegotten 404b motion. 

HR, Esq.

* We get that there are racist stereotypes that are offensive and that in a general sense people do not all act in a certain way just because they are a member of a race or group. But we are here to tell you that over the course of three museums in one week, once we began to count, we noticed that of all the types of people in the galleries, women from China were at about a rate of more than 9 to 1 taking pictures of every picture and every description. Why? We have no idea. Maybe they are being nice and want to share it with their family back home.  But objectively, it was a noticeable trend. Just as it was that almost all Americans, regardless of sex, were doing the same thing. Now compare that to people who, based on the language we heard them speaking, were not Americans, who were simply looking at the art. Families with English accents were chatting about Van Gogh in Arles;  Germans were discussing the difference between Van Gogh's paintings of gardens that were composed of dabs of paint versus his strokes when painting the giant green cypress trees.  It is the difference between enjoying the moment, and needing to prove to the rest of the world where you were and what you did. We Americans have it all wrong.