I love benches

Yesterday, Erin and I spent the better part of the day wandering the streets of the Palermo Soho neighborhood in Buenos Aires. If there's one thing the area is known for - besides a huge collection of hip and tasty restaurants - it's shopping.

I like shopping about as much as any other guy. Shopping for me is about buying; a successful shopping trip is one where I purchase the needed item in the least amount of time. If I can walk into the first store, buy what I need and return home quickly, that is the pinnacle of success.

Needless to say, Erin (not alone among women I am guessing) has a slightly different perspective on shopping. It is an adventure, an activity that can swallow whole days, and is almost entirely removed from the act of buying. Shopping is more like visiting an art gallery, where different works are scattered among hundreds of stores and the tour can last a lifetime.

Yesterday's artistic medium seemed to be the shoe. The Argentinians love their shoes, especially leather ones. And coincidentally, so does Erin.

While this scenario might sound like the makings of a long, painful day for a red-blooded American male like myself, a night-in-shining-armor appeared to save me: The bench.

I love benches and Buenos Aires is littered with great ones of all shapes and sizes.

[Sidebar: Too many American cities have rid themselves of benches as a way to combat the problem of homelessness (sic). While this progressive policy may seem superficially sensible, in my opinion it only further degrades a neighborhood.]

Buenos Aires - a city with it's own problems related to poverty, education and crime - is rife with benches. And refreshingly, people sit on them. All over the place.

Yesterday I sat on more benches than I can count (at least with my clothes on). Red benches, green benches, wood benches and steel ones. And I loved it. I could watch the world go by from the comfort of my bench, waiting without a care while my bride visited her museums to fashion.

We need more benches in America.