I was at the post office a little while ago and a neatly dressed and coiffed old woman came over to me and told me, “Be careful when you leave here. Don’t speed. There’s a cop sitting right over there.” And it wasn’t like we just happened to cross paths. She obviously spotted me from halfway across the parking lot and purposely came to me to tell me that. She was probably just trying to be friendly and helpful but I was a little bit offended that she would just assume that I, a complete stranger, am the kind of person who might need that kind of warning.

I know some people are just like that but I can’t help wondering if the red dress I’m wearing today had anything to do with it. I probably wouldn’t even have thought of that if I hadn’t watched an episode of Brain Games last night that included testing the hypothesis that a woman in a red dress can talk a man into doing just about anything. But it’s not that kind of red dress. It’s a comfortably and wholesomely loose-fitting bandana print cotton dress. But I suppose the color red means “fast” to a lot of people. So should I avoid red or wear it more often to show the world I’ve still got it?