I was driving to work today and I had to stop because a person was jaywalking right in front of me.  Normally that would have been irritating, but when I got a look at the person, I was glad for the interruption.  He was one of the coolest-looking people I had seen in a long time.

He appeared to be between 75 and 80 years old and was reed-thin.  He was wearing a beautiful straw fedora with a black band, and his gray hair looked perfectly combed underneath.  He wore an elegant cream-colored, open-collar, short-sleeved shirt, crisply tailored brown dress slacks, and black and white wingtips.  But here’s the crowning touch:  with great dignity, he was walking with a glossy, burgundy-colored walking stick!  My first reaction was, “I see Fred.  Where the heck’s Ginger?”

He was one of the most stylish persons I have encountered and looked like someone from another era–the kind of person you’d see taking a paseo in Sevilla or sipping an espresso at an elegant seaside resort–a cigar factory owner on holiday, perhaps.

In this day when taupe Comfortwalkers are the style of the day for many older citizens, it was a kick to see someone whose sense of style would be an inspiration for any age group.  I felt like rolling my window down and yelling some kind of compliment at him.  But before I could, he got into a waiting car, free from the indignity of having had to acknowledge a boisterous admirer who would have told him how much he had improved his day.