Paul Volcker Takes the Bus

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- He got on the M2 bus headed up Madison Avenue, just like any other put-out New Yorker on a rainy, humid Friday evening. Only he was more recognizable and larger than most. He wore a pleasant smile, a nondescript blue suit and no tie.

That's Paul Volcker, I said to myself, confident in my facial-recognition software, human version. OK, I need a clue just to be sure. He was carrying a green umbrella, and although it was semi-folded, I could make out an eagle and the word "Reserve" on it. Standard-issue Federal Reserve umbrella, I guess.

As he pleasantly moved toward the middle of the bus, I wondered if I should say something. "Yo, Paul!" I could have gone, being we were in New York.

Nah, too startling. Then I heard some guy in the back say, "Paul Volcker, take a seat." Maybe he was an astute follower of economic news, self-satisfied with his recognition of the man considered in many circles to be the greatest Federal Reserve chairman of all time.

Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve

"Will there be a QE3?" "What do you think of that jobs number today?" "What does it mean for the 2012 election?" "What about the August deadline for the debt ceiling?" "How's the Volcker Rule working out?" "How long can interest rates stay at zero when you had them at 20% in the 80s?" were some potential questions I quickly mulled.

I thought of some of the famous people I incidentally crossed paths with in the past and didn't hesitate to play starstruck with. I got my picture taken with Muhammad Ali (thrilling) as a weekly reporter. I asked a sleepy Bruce Springsteen for his autograph on a New Jersey ferry (he obliged). Same of Wilt Chamberlain, whom I happened to spot at a Virginia Slims tennis tournament at Madison Square Garden a while back. While I was in college I took a ride with the governor of Indiana and his state police detail, in his limo, to a heliport because he was leaving an event, and I had a question about state aid to universities, and he said, c'mon, we'll talk about it. Hop in. Oh yes, and shaking Gregg Allman's hand once at a venue far smaller than the Allman Brothers played in their heyday.