After I let Mother Nature have at me most of Thursday morning, I went back to where I was staying, changed clothes, and went to the shiny new New York Times building to meet up with Brian Stelter (above), the original Mr. TVNewser and now one of that paper's young turks of new (and old) media.
While we were sitting in the cafeteria, a long train of very well dressed people came through, as though on a tour. There was a guy with a TV camera on his shoulder tracking their every move.
Later in the lobby, after I'd said goodbye to Brian, one of the tour group came up to me, a beautifully dressed woman in a long coat with furry trim, necklace — she looked important.
"What are those?" she said, pointing down.
"They're .... rubbers," or maybe I said "galoshes," wanting to avoid the double entendre.
"Where did you get them?" she asked, excitedly.
I was briefly speechless, so I vamped: "Well, I'm from the Midwest ... and ... I got them at a shoe store." And then I explained how they fit over my dress shoes and protected them against the elements.
"Those are wonderful!" she declared.
Now it was my turn to ask a question: "Your party looks very distinguished," I said. "Where do they come from?"
"We are a delegation of the Republic of Italy," she said.
And I said that if such a good looking Italian woman is complimenting me on what I'm wearing, that was a fine compliment indeed. And I walked away thinking: But, still. Rubbers?
Below, a picture of my feet, fully sheathed and standing inside the "glass piston" elevator at the midtown Manhattan Apple Store.
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