I’ve waxed poetic about the view out of my office windows now; I can see a sweep of lawn, pines, and the flower garden from my perch up here in the office. But several years ago when I was in graduate school at New York University, the view was quite different.
The School of Continuing and Professional Studies which houses the Direct Marketing Master’s degree program is at 11 West 42nd Street, directly across from Bryant Park and the massive and wonderful temple to books, the New York City Public Library, with its guardian lions and marble floors. And Bryan Park is where many of the infamous Fashion Week runway shows are held. From the city streets you can’t see much; there are trailers and big lights for the television cameras and all sorts of barriers and such to keep the hoi polloi from gawking at the celebrities.
But from the building across the street, apparently you can see well…very well indeed.
It was our night class in Financials; heavy on the math, heavy on the yawns, and a grueling business class that involved big numbers and even bigger projects and homework. We slogged through the first half of the night class and breathed a sigh of relief when the professor called for break. I left to get a cup of coffee. When I returned, nearly every male in the class was clustered at the windows. They weren’t saying anything, just standing with their noses pressed to the windows.
“What’s going on?”
One guy pointed out the 4th floor window and down into Bryant Park. “Fashion Week.”
Wondering why the guys were so interested in Fashion Week, I wandered closer. Ah. Mystery solved.
The Victoria’s Secret fashion show was going on. And from our airy perch four stories up and across the street, we had a perfect bird’s eye view down onto the catwalk…and the models.
Needless to say, I don’t think many of them were concentrating on the balance sheets that night!
