Blue Blood

I attended my first civic event as a blue-suited attorney today, the Edina Chamber of Commerce meeting at Interlachen Country Club. I was invited so I could hear what Mike Hatch had to say.

I was completely out of place and, as typically happens, I prove it. First, it was probably the first time in at least a decade that I recited the pledge of allegiance, which is how these meetings apparently always start out. Plus, my shirt collar and cuff sleeves were badly frayed and showing white (it was a dark blue shirt) but for whatever reason I shrugged my shoulders this morning and wore the shirt, thinking I had no client meetings but forgetting that I'd be rubbing elbows with a bunch of suits later. My hands are also badly chapped in the winter, and my fingers sometimes get so dry the fingertips crack and bleed. That happened while I was eating my salad (oh, I was the only one at my table who got the obligatory vegetarian pasta primavera). I bled all over my fork and napkin, then unknowingly rubbed my hands across my nose and cheek, seeing later in a car window reflection that I had a long smear of blood across my face. Why no one said anything is beyond me--pity perhaps for this poor fool.