This is a guest post by Vernā Myers, a nationally recognized expert in diversity issues within law firms and other legal settings.

Several years ago, my good friend Nan and I got out of a taxi late at night in the Wall Street area of New York City.

Nan is Asian American. Like me, she is a diversity consultant and former attorney. We are about the same age; okay, she’s younger. She is cool and fun, and we love talking about and working on diversity issues together. We had come from LaGuardia Airport and were on our way to a hotel room for a good night’s sleep before a full day of workshops with a client in the area.

As we neared our destination, our cab driver announced that there was too much construction on the street for him to take us to the front door of the hotel and it would actually be faster if we got out and walked up a little back street that would lead us right to our hotel. He pointed, and for some reason, we complied.

If you know anything about Wall Street, it’s a ghost town at night. So we stood there, bags in tow, on a dark and deserted street not knowing exactly where to go. Then I saw this person across the street and I was immediately relieved. My friend Nan was stunned by my reaction.

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