Tom....Life of the Party

Dare I ask: how does one get to be "that guy"? Tom, modest to a fault, isn't sure what I mean....the very essence of je ne sais quoi, non?

Do the jeans help somehow, I ask, desperate to acquire a pair if they do. The glasses? ("Ray-Bans. I hate to admit it, but I got them at LensCrafters. They make it so easy, " Tom says.)

Then a glance down at the shoes. Ah yes, of course. Silly fashion anthropologist.

I should have known. Metallic loafers.

Tom bought them in New York. "They're almost worn out," he demures. To which I say, get thee to a cobblery. Perhaps his charming personality, not the shoe, is the man's secret to success--but why risk it?