I Cannot Do Without You

You may remember these lines from a protest song of the fifties:

In the summer, you’re the winter;
In the finger, you’re the splinter;
In the banquet, you’re the stew –
Say! I can do without you!

It is a sad fact of life that certain people, certain faces, certain personalities, certain names, and certain actions just don’t seem to fit in. They will always be out of place, out of harmony with their surroundings, embarrassing at times. But they are impossible to ignore, and often they confront us suddenly — stop us in our tracks.

Someone noticed one of those incongruities in the person of a doorman for one of New York City’s most fashionable residential high rises. The man was tall and well-built — a real soldier figure. He wore an ornate guardsman’s uniform, and the scarlet tunic draped over his shoulder gave him the look of a British Grenadier. Adding to his authentic look was the…