Wouldn't you be tempted by a first edition hardcover?

Yesterday I had to appear in court in an iffy neighborhood and while I was not afraid my car would be stolen, I decided I'd better bring my GPS with me to the courthouse (my brother had his stolen from his locked car a couple months ago). Busy planning what I was going to say to the judge, I gathered my things, put on my suit jacket (pale turquoise with elbow sleeves worn with black skirt), and when I saw it was close to 9, I began to dash. THEN I realized there was a hardcover copy of Betsy and Joe by Maud Hart Lovelace, with dust jacket, clearly visible in the car to any passer-by! Of course, a hardcover Betsy-Tacy is much more valuable than a Tom-Tom! Torn, I hesitated but forced myself to hurry on to the courthouse, and luckily no one tried to break into my car while I was engaged in my legal career. Thank you, Maud, for keeping an eye on my car from the Great Library in the Sky. . .

I saw some very odd outfits on the women lawyer in this particular courthouse. One was wearing an innocuous pants suit but with thick fluffy socks (in August!) and patent leather loafers. One was wearing a sleeveless dress, no jacket - she would have been scolded at my summer law firm in NJ which did not permit bare arms. Another, similarly without a suit jacket, wore a blue and white striped button down shirt, hanging down towards her knees, not tucked in, and reminded me of the shirts I borrowed from my father for smocks in elementary school art class. I was somewhat abashed because the skirt I was wearing was shorter than I had realized - I was signing emails to the partner in charge of the case as "Perry" but I felt more like Ally McBeal. However, I was a radiant vision and veritable legal role model compared to these others!