thus he did not see his assistant stare at the man in the blue suit and the gold-rimmed glasses approaching the prescription counter , nor did he see ralph , the fat old security guard ( katz paid the man a pittance but still bitterly resented the expense ; his father had never needed a security guard , but his father , god rot him , had lived in a time when new york had been a city instead of a toilet-bowl ) suddenly come out of his usual dim daze and reach for the gun on his hip .