Want to get a lot of stares and draw more than a few comments in Floyd?

Wear a suit.

I showed up in a suit and tie for breakfast with friends at Blue Ridge Restaurant Monday morning and the commentary on my unusual appearance ran nonstop for more than an hour.

“Job interview?”

Nah.

“Funeral?”

Nope.

“Court?”

Yep.

“Finally got caught?”

No really. I was appearing at a hearing as an “expert” witness. Instead of my usual attire of jeans, t-shirt and motorcycle boots, I felt a suit more appropriate for the occasion. Judges tend to frown on casual attire in their courtrooms.

But the stares, questions and comments illustrate just how out of place a suit is in a rural area.

Bankers wear suits. So do some government officials. But, for the most part, denim replaces pin stripes as business attire. Jeans even outnumber suits in local churches.

When we left Washington in 2004 I had a closet full of suits, ties and wingtips. No more. Gave most away, Kept a grey suit for weddings (and court appearances) and a black one for funerals. Two white shirts, two ties and one pair of black wing tips. Monday was my first day in a suit in more than a year.

And, with luck, it will be at least a year before I need to dig one of those two suits out of the closet again.