You know there is one thing in this world that will always just absolutely amaze me--people who name drop, use buzz words, and catch phrases in order to elevate their status. At a car show in late 2008, I witnessed this shameless act of nitwittery as some random guy dropped the names of clubs, magazine editors, painters, and builders, in order to construct an impressive set of intangible credentials. Maybe that is the reason why he increased the decibels of his voice to a rather annoying level as if to announce to the world "HEY, I AM THE MESIAH AND THE ONE WHO KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT ANYTHING AND I DARE ANYONE TO DISAGREE WITH ME!" Hmmm... that sounds a lot like President Obama, but I must digress.

Anyway, the story is this guy told two colleagues of mine how to improve the attendance at the show, but actually it sounded more like a declaration that the attendance was poor because such and such website did not have the show listed on that particular website's show calendar. Ok, big deal, right? Wrong! See, when one of my colleagues argued the point that really the weather, time of year, and other outside forces control show attendance, the argument--ummm... actually a pissing contest is more like it--commenced and this twenty something began to argue with my colleague (who has been in the custom auto scene for over 30 years and is a decorated combat vet) and also started to name drop like I have never seen before. Yep, he sounded just like these guys that commit the deplorable act of claiming they are "Navy Seals" or some other special forces operator--dropping all the right buzzwords and catch phrases, but actually aren't the real deal--a "fugazie"--a fake.

Being the professional that he is, my fellow colleague took it all in stride and eventually was able to cool off the situation and everyone walked away with disagreements without being disagreeable--which is how it should be! Once cooler heads prevailed and the argument came to an end, the twenty something began to apologize profusely claiming he didn't want to be that "mouthy young kid" at some car show--duly noted, but a little too late now after flinging mud and calling names!

I have to ask why cop a serious attitude just because somebody disagrees with you on how to promote a show? Does it really matter in the whole scheme of things or is your pride's proverbial "armor" so weak that you feel that such inadequacies must be compensated for by becoming the numero uno a-hole? Why all the name dropping? Is it to make your place in the world valid and legitimate? Sure, all of us can find some names to drop, but the question is if those names actually know you--which is the difference between being the real deal and some "fugazie" Navy Seal.

Until next time... keep it legal and keep it safe.