Two Questions.

I get two questions from clients all the time.  Not surprisingly the first one is about the hat.  But the second one is whether I get recognized all the time.  I do.   It is very flattering that people come up to me and say they like the commercials or quite frequently that we represented someone that they know who was happy with our efforts.  Other times people come up and start asking questions about taxes  or whether the trust fund is running out which is less pleasant.  Not long ago I got recognized at Logan airport in Boston by the spouse of  client who raced over to thank me for winning his wife's case.  That is always the best.  Second best is crossing the street in NYC and having a firefighter in a engine company or ladder company blew his horn at me and wave.  Occasionally police officers in NYC in the local precinct will pull over just to say hello.

I am almost always recognized by TSA people when getting through security.  The agent will have my photo id in his hands and looks at me; you see a very short double take. Often the TSA people in friendly airports (Tampa is the friendliest airport I know) will come up to me and start chatting.  I'm also recognized on trains particularly the commuter train to our office in Hauppauge.  Fellow passengers will say hello on the platforms which is extremely flattering.  Everyone likes "the hat" though few realize there have been quite a few versions of "the hat" in the commercials.  Right now I'm wearing a Panama hat given to me recently by a friend but no one seems to know that it is a brand new hat that has never appeared on TV.

Harry incidentally is also recognized since he also wears a cowboy hat though his are much larger, more LBJ style than mine.  Like me, he is always recognized at airports by security or at baggage claim.  In fact recently picking up my bag at JFK, someone came up to me to tell me my brother had been there in the morning.  That's being recognized.