"I realized something the other day that should be obious, but can become lost in the everyday pressure of deadlines, business, decisions, cover blurbs, and a thousand other details tha crowd even the best day. I ran into NMCA Outlaw-Street Racer Bruce Kimmen at the NHRA U.S. Nationals and he thanked me for something that had run in CHP. To me, it had merely been a newsworthy itme. But to him, our short mention in the Bow Tie News Column that he had been reinstated in the National Muscle Car Association was intensely personal. His reaction to our short news item surprised me at first until I realized what was really going on. Anytime you put an enormous amount of your time, money, and sweat equity into a project -- it is no longer just a task to be completed. It becomes a part of you and therefore very personal. Our hot rods are really extensions of our personality and that's why criticism hurts so much.
I remember a time back in high school when this clown was trying to pick a fight with me at a party. He started ou with the usual lame, personal insults that I had anticipated and had already decided to ignore. The whole thing was about to blow over when he tossed in some slur directed at my big block Chevelle. All the invectives he had previously thrown my way had no effect on me, but that one casual slam on my car instantly created a major scene. No one was hurt, and we both were cermoniously escorted from the party and asked not to return.
Later that night, my buddies figured that it was just he weight of all those insults that had finally gotten to me. But my car-freak best friend understood that it was the car insult that had set me off. As far as we were concerned, you could say anything you wanted to about us as young, dumb high school kids -- because we knew that's who we were. But the criticism of my car was just too much to take. That was personal!
It's obvious that all the work that goes into these machines is invested as a way of self-expression. Some people do it with art, prose, or music. Hot rodders do it on a canvas of steel, iron, rubber, and aluminum. So next time someone advises that you should be more creative -- point to your car and suggest they be more observant. You art just rolls down the street a little quicker than theirs does. And that's as it should be -- after all, you drive a Chevy." |
