Saturday, July 22, 2006
Incongruous metaphor of the day
In the middle of an article about the back-dating of stock options at Silicon Valley firms during the "dot com" boom, Winston & Strawn lawyer Michael S. Melbinger, who waxes sanctimonious about "fast and loose" compensation practices in that time and place, offers the most incongruous metaphor I have seen in some time:
“These guys were dancing on leather tabletops in their leather pants,” Mr. Melbinger said. “The rules didn’t apply to them. They were the new Masters of the Universe. If they called one firm and they wouldn’t do it, you’d have firms lining up to take their business.”
Out of what busted Quote-o-Matic machine did that come from? I have seen a lot of people who, er, reveled in their stock option gains, but I know I've never seen somebody in leather pants dancing on a "leather tabletop." I'd bet my bottom dollar that Mr. Melbinger's partners and associates at Winston & Strawn are having a lot of fun with that one.
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