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Array
(
[sid] => 74170
[catid] => 1
[aid] => mick
[title] => The Investment Banker's Shoes
[time] => 2004-12-02 19:20:02
[hometext] => I had the idea for this after seeing a well-dressed executive talking to a homeless man
[bodytext] => The investment banker left his office turned off the light and entered the elevator A long day had turned into a night of work An important account He was at the very top of his game He was 46 now, and his hair was greying slightly, but this only lent distinction to his appearance Tall, dignified, impeccably groomed The elevator reached the ground and he left the glass and chrome skyscraper and walked into the cold, clean air of the night The elevator reached the ground and he left the glass and chrome skyscraper and walked into the cold, clean air of the night He straightened the jacket of his $2,000 navy blue tailored pinstriped business suit, and his carefully knotted burgundy silk tie, and began the walk to the garage where his Mercedes Benz waited His shoes, polished like black diamonds, made the only sound in the deserted financial district He liked the satisfying click of the heels on the cement Just that morning an old man had shined his shoes for him at his desk while he read the financial times And now the shoes told the world who he was He took a breath of the cold air and let his $1500 briefcase swing slightly in rhythm as he walked The echo of his shoes cut through the cold air, saying authority and dignity and power and success and respect He enjoyed the sensation of well-being that came with a job well-done and with the obvious glances of admiration and envy that came his way from the few passers-by Then he heard a sound 'Change, sir...change, sir...' The regular cry that all city-dwellers knew He tightened his grip on his briefcase and saw the source A young man sat on a step in front of a brownstone wearing an old sweatshirt even older jeans His feet were bare and dirty - his hair tangled - his eyes sad and angry and broken The banker stopped and pulled out a dollar He gave it to the young man The young man's eyes were fixed on the ground The banker looked down His shoes, expensive and new and so shiny they looked like mirrors The beggar's bare feet, just a few inches away The young man started to cry The banker stepped back and resumed his walk The young man's crying continued - insistent, exhausted and broken The banker continued walking The young man's sobs remained in his mind He walked two more blocks, but the sobs remained Growing louder and taking up room in his mind Banging against the walls of the priveleged bastion of his corporate identity He placed his hands over his ears, but the noise increased He reached the garage, but the noise had become a pandemonium He began to run - a corporate executive in a business suit running through the streets, trying to escape the sound The banker stopped and the echoes of his sleek, gleaming shoes died away For five minutes he hesitated, moving back and forth in his mind but remaining still An agony of indecision He looked at his own shoes And thought - his thoughts manifesting in the din of wails and sobs filling his brain Then he turned around and retraced his steps He found the homeless man, still sobbing The homeless man stopped and looked up 'It's your turn' The banker looked down again at his shoes The noise inside his mind had stopped The cuffs of his hand-tailored suit brushed the leather. He clenched his toes inside them Then he sighed He knelt down on the pavement, and with manicured hands began to untie his right shoe The young man grew quiet and stared at the whiter-than-white shirt cuff and the monogrammed gold cuff links and the pinstriped suit sleeve and the executive's hands as they finished untying the polished black dress shoe Then the banker sighed again He slowly slid his heel out of the right shoe - and for a moment hesitated then the rest of his foot slid out of its expensive leather home Then he removed the left shoe as well The banker looked down at his feet, his toes traceable inside the thin black Brooks Brothers business socks The shoes sat alone neat and shining, separated from their owner Then he sighed again and reached his hand under the tailored cuff of his suit He reached the top of his sock and peeled it off In a moment, he had pulled off his other sock He dropped the socks, one by one, on top of the shoes The banker stood up, barefoot in his pinstriped business suit and carefully tied necktie For the first time he felt the cold damp cement under the smooth soles of his pampered white-collar feet Then he sighed again He unfastened his cufflinks and slid his Rolex off his wrist He untied his silk necktie and pulled it off. Then with shaking manicured hands, he unbuttoned his pinstriped suit jacket and slid his arms out of it The homeless man took the items Then he unbuttoned his red braces and pulled them out of his trousers With a sigh, his pinstriped trousers fell in a puddle of expensive hand-tailored wool on the cold ground Then his Brooks Brothers shorts and t-shirt joined them The successful and respected and dignified investment banker stood naked on the freezing street in the middle of the financial district The homeless man pulled out a pair of scissors and picked up each item of clothing. With quick movements, he sliced through the wool of the suit and the silk tie and socks and the cotton shirt A tear slid down the cheek of the naked man who had once been a well-dressed corporate executive as the scissors cut through the silk socks that he had once worn with pride and the pinstriped suit that a tailor had made for him in London and the necktie that he had tied so carefully that morning No - he would never again go to his office A heap of wool and silk and cotton ribbons were all that remained of his fine business clothes The homeless man threw everything into a garbage can and handed the naked executive a pair of filthy jeans and an old sweatshirt The former executive put them on and sat on the cold concrete Everything was gone Except the shoes He picked up one of the gleaming black dress shoes and handed it to the former investment banker The former banker picked up the shoe and looked at it with a gasp of longing and a sigh of resignation An old woman was wakling towards them He lifted his shoe A quarter landed in the shoe, and found its place in the small worn space created by the foot of the former banker who was no more [comments] => 5 [counter] => 299 [topic] => 21 [informant] => kenwells [notes] => [ihome] => 0 [alanguage] => english [acomm] => 0 [haspoll] => 0 [pollID] => 0 [score] => 2 [ratings] => 1 [editpoem] => 1 [associated] => [topicname] => Lifepoems )
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