The Horror
Well, not the horror, but horribly embarrassing. I was just reminded, by the appearance of a couple walking by on the street outside my window, of an afternoon Mrs. McP and I can't forget.
We went out shopping for a mattress, of all things, and as we perused the wares in a store off lower Broadway in Manhattan we suddenly recognized that something terrible had happened. Without realizing it, we had left our apartment dressed exactly alike. We were both wearing black sweaters and khaki pants. We laughed like hell, and have had a good laugh about it whenever it has come up since. Eventually, the saleswoman we were questioning about mattresses looked us up and down and asked if we "worked together." She noticed that we were wearing the same uniform. We explained our tragedy to her and she smiled. (People in Manhattan are wary of indulging in outright laughter.)
For me this rings back to my college days, when my best friend and ex-roommate showed up at a get together with his girlfriend and they were dressed in identical flannel shirts under identical overalls. I'd never liked it when mothers dressed their young kids like that. To see two of my favorite people doing it to themselves just threw me right off, far more than it should have, but then I was but a college student.
So, that's what the couple who just walked by my window had done, dressed themselves in the same essential outfit. (It wasn't a mistake; I've seen them before.)
"To each his own" is clearly hard to apply here.
We went out shopping for a mattress, of all things, and as we perused the wares in a store off lower Broadway in Manhattan we suddenly recognized that something terrible had happened. Without realizing it, we had left our apartment dressed exactly alike. We were both wearing black sweaters and khaki pants. We laughed like hell, and have had a good laugh about it whenever it has come up since. Eventually, the saleswoman we were questioning about mattresses looked us up and down and asked if we "worked together." She noticed that we were wearing the same uniform. We explained our tragedy to her and she smiled. (People in Manhattan are wary of indulging in outright laughter.)
For me this rings back to my college days, when my best friend and ex-roommate showed up at a get together with his girlfriend and they were dressed in identical flannel shirts under identical overalls. I'd never liked it when mothers dressed their young kids like that. To see two of my favorite people doing it to themselves just threw me right off, far more than it should have, but then I was but a college student.
So, that's what the couple who just walked by my window had done, dressed themselves in the same essential outfit. (It wasn't a mistake; I've seen them before.)
"To each his own" is clearly hard to apply here.
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