Ring the bells that still can ring,
Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack, a crack in everything—
That’s how the light gets in …
Leonard Cohen, “Anthem”
Normally, I wouldn’t dream of giving advice on one’s appearance, but yesterday was a really, really bad hair day in New York City — even the trees got cracked by the wind gusts — and I thought my observations might be useful to others.
The main thing to know when 45 mph winds are cracking trees is that you should not wear a hat. Also, no large metal barrettes or ribbons that could fly in your mouth and respectively break your teeth or choke you. Also, forget hairspray. Stiff hair in 45 mph winds will crack off — not an attractive look.
The second thing to know is that if you are headed to a business meeting in the 45 mph winds, you should give yourself extra minutes to look in a mirror before entering an office to discuss your financial situation.
Lastly, if you are embarrassed by the realization — two hours later — that you looked like Harpo Marx on acid for the duration of your finance meeting, if you are humiliated that you couldn’t seem to focus on percentages and long-term roll-up values because you felt as if you were not alone in getting cracked by the 45 mph winds and that the whole system is blowing in that wind, if you feel as if there is a crack in the universe and that the 45 mph winds just blew you through it, I would suggest that instead of using hairspray or trying to comb your hair or shaving your head, you meditate on the words of our dear Mr. Cohen: "...That's how the light gets in." Yes, it was a really, really bad hair day yesterday.