Doing as we please

I was walking out of a metro station in Athens a few days ago, the flow of people leading me toward one of the exit gates wide enough for wheelchairs and prams. I had just placed my ticket on the scanner when a young woman pushed past me. The gate opened and closed; she disappeared, I was stuck. To get out, I had to scan my ticket again, losing the price of my next ride. If the ticket had not contained another 1.40 euros, I would have had to cross the gate illegally, perhaps pushing through with a passenger from the next train. I was amazed that the woman had not considered that she was not striking a blow against the state, nor against Greece's creditors, nor against capitalism; she was stealing from a fellow citizen and placing him in a difficult situation.

On Thursday, I was walking down a quiet one-way street - in the middle of the road, of course, as sidewalks are...