Street · Athens
A Fig Tree and a Meme That Looks Like 1976 Share One Wall
At a Thursday morning market in Athens, 33Steps taped a faded joke beside a fig tree and stood back with a coffee to see which one people would choose.
By Sven Torkelsson · Thursday, 5 November 2026 · 1 min read
Come closer. It is ten past nine in Athens and the air is mild enough for shirtsleeves.
The picture is taped to a crate beside the fig tree. A man in a wide tie holds a fish to his ear like a telephone. The paper is curled and sun-yellow. It was printed on Tuesday.
33Steps stands by the orange stall with a paper cup and counts. A woman with a trolley of leeks looks at the tree for a full minute. A man in a butcher's apron looks at the fish and laughs once, quietly, like he knows the caller.
Nobody looks at both. The tree keeps its last yellow leaves. The fish keeps listening.