A Fond Memory of New Orleans: Never Bet on Another Man's Game

09/03/2005 01:10 Filed in: Personal

All the recent footage of the devastation from Hurricane Katrina made me think back to an experience I had in the French Quarter almost two decades ago. I was fresh out of high school and was in New Orleans with some friends. One of the interesting things about Bourbon Street and the French Quarter that I noticed was that during the daytime, there were a number of street hustlers working various shell games and other cons. Interestingly, I observed that they tended to close up shop at sunset and pretty much disappeared.

However, it was middle of the afternoon, and as I was walking down Bourbon Street with my friends, a local approached us and suggested that he would bet any of us $20 that he could tell us "where we got our shoes" right down to city and street name. Of course, years earlier my grandfather had instilled in me the wisdom to never bet on another man's game. However, I was curious to know the trick. How could he possibly know where I got my shoes?

So, I asked him if he would settle for one dollar instead of a full twenty. Easy money is easy money, regardless of the amount, so he agreed to bet me $1 that he could tell me where I got my shoes. So, I pulled out my dollar and so did he and I said, "So tell, where did I get my shoes?"

He looked me right and the eyes and although he was a hustler, evidently he also had the heart of a teacher toward me--a supposedly naive 18-year-old. "First," he said, "never bet on another man's game." Did he know my grandfather?

Then, to claim my dollar he said, "You GOT your shoes on your FEET on BOURBON STREET, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA." As he smiled and held out his hand for my money, I hesitated. Technically, his English was incorrect. Got implies "received" or "bought." Therefore, if his grammar were correct he would have to say "You HAVE your shoes on your feet..." which was not the original wager.

However, he was bigger, older and frankly, I was too scared to get into a grammatical debate with him. Plus, I just wanted to know the trick, so I gave him the dollar, and my friends and I continued to stroll down the street. My grandfather had been proven right--never bet on another man's game!