When I was a child growing up, one thing that I was taught, was to "mind my manners." Be respectful of others by using good manners and it will carry you a long way was the rule. This was all part of my indoctrination into being raised as a nice and polite young man. Why do I bring this up you ask? Simple, the show season will be in full swing very soon and every year I see people at shows getting into all sorts of scuffles. When that happens, it causes all kinds of trouble for themselves as well as all the other custom auto enthusiasts which will be judged by a few stupid idiots that are acting like... well... I-D-I-O-T-S! Most of the time just good ole' fashioned manners, that your parents taught you, would have stopped such stupidity right in its tracks, but in the words of Forrest Gump "stupid is as stupid does."
For instance, while at the Hunter's Auto Expo this past weekend I nearly walked into a guy, while I was trying to take a few photos of a car. Instead of being cool headed and accepting my apology he gives me "lip" and his nasty little "attitude." This would be an example of the "idiots" that I was talking about earlier. These types of guys go to auto shows looking for trouble and they usually find it very quickly. What is even worse is the fact that this guy had his young son with him. So, what kind of example was he setting for his son? In spite of the incident, cooler heads prevailed, so I kept my cool, emphasized my apology and walked away from his invitation of stupidity in action.
Folks, let me tell you a little secret, if you don't keep these idiots in check at these events, then they will dictate how all future events will be. In fact, one idiot can cuase a hell of a lot of problems such as cancelation of ALL future events at a particular park, stadium, etc. We have to keep a diligent watch and take care of the idiots before they take care of us! How? Just use good manners, walk away, report the idiot to security and that will, most of the time, take care of it. Enough said about that!
The next thing I want to mention is another problem that I had while covering the Hunter's Auto Expo. This problem deals with keeping commitments. Last year when I covered the Hunter's show I had a commitment from the Texas Bikini Team (TBT) to get interviews with the girls as well as some pictures of them in front of a few of the cars. Well, only a third of the commitment was fulfilled which did not include pictures of the girls in front of a few cars and the interviews. I e-mailed the road manager, Kevin Beal, and discussed this with him only to be snubbed after he promised (for the third time) that the girls would do the interview. A year goes by and this year, I once again talked to Kevin Beal and received from him a commitment to get a few shots of the girls in front of cars as well as an interview. This time I was publicly snubbed! Not only did Kevin not make the girls available, he turned away from me and refused to look me in the eye.
I don't know what the problem is with Kevin and the TBT not honoring their commitments, but I can assure you that ESM is very unhappy with the way they have treated us. We gave the TBT publicity and fulfilled our portion of the commitment, Kevin and the TBT did not. Therefore, we suggest that any organization that is looking at hiring the TBT for one of their events, reconsider it. We highly recommend, as an alternative, hiring The Purrfect Angelz, from Los Angeles, California. You can visit their website at: www.purrfectangelz.com. The Purrfect Angelz was founded by former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, Lisa Ligon. Lisa was the ESM featured model for the month of May 2003 and she is gorgeous, not to mention her team of "Purrfect Angelz" as well!
It is official now; ESM is boycotting the TBT for snubbing us. The way I see it, until they apologize (especially Kevin Beal), be it verbally or written, they shall get nothing but grief from ESM. I must remind the TBT, as well as Kevin Beal, that the first rule to public relations is to HONOR YOUR COMMITMENTS! If you make promises and do not follow through, prepare to be burned in effigy!
So, the lessons learned today is to mind your manners so you don't get shot at the next auto show and to honor your damn commitments, so you don't go down in flames like the Zeppelin!
Ok, I have stood on my soapbox long enough.
Until next time... keep it legal and keep it safe.
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