(feature photo courtesy of extraspace.com)
It was 2002 and I was barely out of college doing spreadsheet grunt work on Wall Street. The professional world was still very new to me and I was flooded with images of classic Manhattan affluence.
It was beautiful to me, as a young man looking to prove my worth to the world.
Around that time, Ralph Lauren ran an ad campaign for their summer line. The commercial would play on the overhead TV of my office but I never really paid attention to it.
One May evening, I was stuck with extra work and decided to stay in the office, get food delivered to me for dinner and would get car service home. Sometime during my dinner, the Ralph Lauren commercial played again and because the office was largely empty, I had the TV on at volume. It was a short commercial, in black and white, oozing with a lazy but seductive allure. But there was a new factor about it that burned itself into my mind because I could also hear it – the song that was used.
The moment I heard that composition, the ad all made sense to me. And it was unforgettable. It was one of those key moments in existence that gives your life an unexpected color and depth.
Setting aside the last of my dinner, I searched on the then-nascent Google webpage for the name of the song using every possible keyword I could think of. But there was no information. I called for car service and started to pack my laptop and papers.
It usually takes 20-30 minutes for the car to arrive so I was sitting at my desk waiting when it suddenly occurred to me that I could…..theoretically….just ask someone at the Ralph Lauren global office in Madison Avenue, midtown Manhattan. I decided to pick up the phone and make the call.
A pleasant, friendly voice answered despite it being 9:30PM. People understandably would want to have gone home or be at happy hour having drinks.
“Do you know the name of that song in the black and white commercial currently airing?”, I asked.
And here’s the point of the whole post:
This person, despite probably having a ton of public relations stuff to do, calls to make, bookings, etc. still took a moment to not only answer my question, but to answer it in a professional and courteous way. He honestly could have given me that classic New York City dismissive snark due to being overworked and underpaid but no – he chose positivity and light.
I had to wait until later at night to be able to search the song out and download it (this was years before YouTube). But when I did and I heard the song in its entirety, it made my short interaction with this person at Ralph Lauren that much more meaningful.
He doesn’t know it but this composition transcended its musical context. It is a memory cornerstone undperpinning years of my life that have passed since; years of my life that have seen happiness, grief, and a slow climb back to a humble gratitude for…everything. Every summer since and every summer from now on will have this composition playing on those days with a quiet, lush, and lazy aesthetic.
_____
just a note with the song, in many ways New York City was very kind to me as a young man. there is that inspiration to work hard because one knows what you can get if you make it out there. It’s been years since I’ve effectively left “the contest” but I’ll remember it fondly. And the person that created this video, unrelated to the person at Ralph Lauren btw, (@roundmidnightTV) probably feels the same way I did.
____
To that person at Ralph Lauren HQ that was courteous enough to give me the title of this song, I thank you from the very bottom of my heart. And I want you to know that over 2 decades later, the effects of your simple act of positivity are still felt.
And now, they will ripple out even further as I can share it with readers here. I hope life has been well for you and will be well for you as our paths get further and further apart from where we crossed.
Feel Free To Leave A Comment!