Gotcha!

Marie and I were walking down the street in the French Quarter yesterday and this fellow stepped in front of me. He was a little bit smaller than me. He had a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other and he had no sense of personal space. At least no sense of mine as he was right up in my face. He was speaking so fast I was having a hard time understanding what he was saying. But I quickly got the gist.

He wanted to bet me $10 that he could tell me the city and state where I got my shoes. Now, I am a pretty smart fellow. In fact, I'm too smart for my own good sometime. I decided there was more to this than met the eye and I was willing to bet I could beat the guy at his own game. Did I mention, I'm sometimes too smart for my own good?

I said, "You're on." and we shook hands. At which time he began to laugh up a storm and he said, "Man, don't ever bet a man at his own game." He then said, "You've got your shoes on your feet here in New Orleans, Louisiana."

I said, "You got change for $20?"

He started digging in his pocket and pulled out scrunched up ones and finally found a couple of fives. Meanwhile, a little, scruffy rat of a fellow walked up with a plastic cup in his hand and demanded I put a little in his cup, too.

After an exchange that looked like it was going get physical and I was starting to worry about Maire's safety the fellow who'd just conned me stepped between us and said he'd take care of it and Marie and I walked on down the street.

I've thought about that little exchange a lot since yesterday.

Why didn't I mind being hustled by one guy and was seriously considering whether I, a 56 year old man, was going to have to mix it up with a drunk on the streets of New Orleans.

I've come to a couple conclusions:

1. I liked the first guy. There was some thing about him that was engaging. He was offering to play a game and I've written enough about how much I love games. Also, my Dad used to tell me over and over again, that people work with you because they like you. Once they've decided they like you; then they rationalize why. The second guy was just trying to intimidate me.

2. The first guy gave me something of value; a story. I'll tell this story over and over again. For whatever reason, I always enjoy those stories where I get cocky and I get put in my place. You'd think by now that wouldn't happen anymore, but every time I start thinking I'm beyond that sort of thing, events like yesterday remind me: you have to be ever vigilant against pretension. And I'm self-aware enough to know I can be too smart for my own good if I don't watch myself.

We're headed home today. Back to Richmond a little wiser and happy that this little piece of wisdom only cost me ten bucks.

BTW, another guy offered to tell me where I got my shoes this morning. I told him, "Same place you got that good looking pair you're wearing."