February 14, 2006

Cowboys and Investment Bankers

The cowboys understood the rules. They would wear certain clothes and in exchange, the bankers would make modest investments. Everybody played along and everybody won. There were nine of them, so it was a win-win-win-win-win-win-win-win-win situation. Until one day Hector, the head cowboy, opted out.

Hector was good with the horses. He had a natural sense for things like feeding time and time to let them walk. That's why he was the head cowboy. But he'd become uncomfortable with their arrangement. "Listen, I am a real-life cowboy," he said. "I will not play the part of a cowboy."

"That's a really subtle distinction," one of the other cowboys called as Hector walked away.

There was some confusion for a while. People walked around in circles. Sloppy even bumped into the fence! Finally Ernst, a Dutch-born banker with an easy smile, offered to play cowboy in Hector's stead. Ernst knew nothing about cowboy work, but he was a team player. He wore a big hat, and he roped the ponies. And if someone asked him a question about interest rates, he would tip his big cowboy hat back over his angular features and say: "Well sheee-it podna. You gotta compound it."

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Richard Brautigan rides again!

Posted by: xian at February 17, 2006 4:39 PM

True fact: Richard Brautigan liked to wear big hats.
-Cecil

Posted by: cecil vortex at February 17, 2006 5:24 PM

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