Tan

Man 11/5/08

He had this green shopping bag. Well, it was this green tyvek, medium-sized tote bag, with greenbag.com, across the front sides.

Plus, he was really tan. Not George Hamilton orange, but a deep Mediterranean olive tan that suggested a Greek heritage. Even his bald head was sporting this deep tan, though the dark color served to hide the few leftover follicles on the crown of his head. The hair on the sides was short, and a mix of brown and white; colors repeated for his eyebrows.

His ears were possibly the largest single feature on his head, with prominent sunspots. His face was fleshy and sat on a double chin, and when paired with his pudgy nose, he gave off the look of an old prizefighter.

Underneath his olive ¾ length raincoat was a dark three-button suit. With a closer look, it was actually a dark navy blue with very subtle tonal stripes. And you could just make out the blue striped shirt with the white contrast collar, accented by the red tie, which had a basic pattern of blue and orange squares.

His shoes were black. Very basic lace-up Oxfords, like the sort one would get at Wal-Mart. Quite out of sync with the rest of his outfit, which though not quite Saks, did not deserve that quality of shoe.

The watch was the only piece of jewelry visible on him. Worn on the left wrist, it was a classic rectangular white-face encased in gold, and finished with brown straps. His nails were really close cropped, though his hands and arms showed a lot of hair. Perhaps reflecting his possible Mediterranean heritage.

Like most subway riders, he was reading. The New York Post. In fact, he was reading each page quite intently and looking over every piece of information like an archaeologist examining fossils. He had glasses tethered around his neck, but since they were not in use for reading, perhaps they were sunglasses.

Slowly, it seemed that he was preparing himself to exit the train. He brought out his LG flip-phone and gave the screen a quick check. Then he pulled out a small paper bag from his green tote that you could tell was holding one of those tall cylinders typically used for food deliveries. Gave that another quick check. Soup perhaps?