Pickwickian

Observing myself in the mirror, as I frequently do when going out, there are frequently food stains on my shirt or sweater or tie that I had previously overlooked. The pianist has a sharp eye for this sort of mussiness so I am careful to take premptive action. My shape over the years has begun to approach that of Pickwick, and as a result, the frontage I display has become more horizontal than vertical. As such, I rarely get food stains on my trousers because of the overhang. The value of the neck tie has been largely over looked as to its use to clean one's glasses, but more importantly to intercept food droppings on one's shirt. The tendency to avoid ties today amongst public men, who wish to appear like one of the "people", has unfortunately resulted in discarding a useful bib. Pickwick was a man of a particularly mild nature, as I find is generally the case in the plumper members of the human race. Dickens' genial characters in all his novels seem to me to have always been of a more rotund physique than the lean, hungry and intense nature of the villains or the troubled. Compare Mr. Tubman and the fat boy with Mr. Jingle. Reflect on Fagin and Bill Sikes and Daniel Quilp. Not one of them a fat man. Then recall sweet, plump, Mr. Brownlow. This proposition of course could be a rationalization on my part and on the part of Dickens. But, ask yourself, can a man who loves juicy food and eats with relish and joy and dribbles on his clothing be skinny and cranky? I think not! Food and satisfaction are aligned in the psyche!