I was waiting for the Second Avenue bus when a well-dressed woman, probably in her 70's, joined me in the shelter. When the bus arrived and opened its doors, she asked the driver if he stopped at 19th Street, just four blocks away.
Assured that it was the next stop, she began to board the bus. She had such tremendous difficulty climbing the steps that I instantly understood why she took the bus to travel such a short distance.
She got off at 19th and from my seat I watched her hobble slowly down the street in obvious pain. Then I noticed something I had missed before. She was wearing black, calf-high leather boots precariously balanced on 4-inch spike heels.
Fashion is a cruel and apparently unrelenting master.