Friends, there are certain times when my job is freaking amazing, and last week was one of those times. I spent several days at a world-class event repping a powerhouse brand, rubbing shoulders with racing royalty in one of the most beautiful places to which I’ve had the pleasure of traveling. You can fill in the blanks yourselves. Summer events like these are what get us through the long, cold days of auto show season. But some of these great places seem to drive some people to drink.
I was oh-so-pleasantly surprised that 99.99 percent of our participants fully followed my previously published guidelines of good behavior at automotive events. Patience and niceties were the name of the game. I heard “please”! I heard “thank you”! I had lovely conversations with people who showed respect for what I was saying! Pretty much everyone I was dealing with had scads of money yet not a single one threw the “Don’t you know who I am?” line at me to get what they wanted. In short, it was a dream job.
Until Drunky McDrunkerson showed up.
Dear Drunky was so hammered that he couldn’t stand on his own, instead he was relying on a patio pillar to prop up his considerable heft. Drunky began his flirtation with a plea for sympathy. Turns out he was so hammered that he tumbled out of a golf cart going about half a mile an hour and had the injuries to prove it: a skinned knuckle and bloody shin. Hot, right?
Self-inflicted alcohol injuries are hilarious by definition, but Drunky mistook my mirth for romantic machinations. Encouraged, he slowly but surely broke out the heavy artillery until he was offering his exotic sports car and tickets to Kings of Leon in exchange for my company that evening. It took a while to figure this out, however, as he was slurring so heavily that the foreign accents swirling around us were far easier to decode. Gravity was pulling him down the pillar that had been propping him up.
Since Drunky couldn’t take no for an answer the first dozen or so times, I finally told him I would meet him when I was getting off, and I gave him a full hour after my real quitting time. By which time I would be long gone. You might think this was mean, but frankly he wasn’t going to remember this entire conversation fifteen minutes later anyway, so it’s not like he was going to show up.
Eventually I was rescued by a caring coworker, then Drunky’s friends moved him along. But Drunky did not give up. In fact, several other booth babes told me nearly identical tales of Drunky, down to the golf cart incident. If at first you don’t succeed, etc., I suppose.
But you know what? Drunky may have been a bit overbearing and obviously wasted, but he never actually said anything wholly inappropriate. He never tried to touch or grab me. He never called me “babe” or any variation thereof and didn’t talk down to me on automotive product knowledge. And he never once asked, “Do you come with the car?”
Thank you Drunky McDrunkerson, wherever you are, for making the weirdest part of my awesome work week even more awesome.
PS: You may want to call the Betty. Or at least give your pal the keys to that exotic.
The Booth Babe is an anonymous auto show model who dishes about what really goes on behind the scenes. Read her blog at http://doyoucomewiththecar.blogspot.com. And if you treat her nicely, read her each Sunday at Thetruthaboutcars.com
sigh.
Sigh…as in, “ahhh, memories…(or mammaries, in this particular case)…
Odds are he must be a pretty decent guy when sober. Somewhat polite when drunk is a rare occurrence.
I think that’s because pretty decent guys usually have the good sense and discretion not to get falling-down drunk at events other than bachelor parties.
I am not trying to be sexist or anything of the sort, only complimentary when I say that I just went to ‘Do you Come With The Car’ and the heading has literally the prettiest pair of legs I have seen in ages, if not ever. Please take that as a compliment from one of the few gentlemen you would encounter.
Suck-up. My wife has better legs than those.
I’ve been a defender of the Booth Babe’s posts. After the first one, I never read them. But I read this one, and agree that TTAC should save its money for other stuff. These posts are too narcissistic. Too preening. Too petty.
I might add that Karen Sypher was an auto show model. She whose “15 second” interlude with Rick Pitino was, she thought, good enough for several million dollars and a house. Makes you wonder if all auto show models are such high class.
If you feel that way, sign out and leave! The rest of us will stay and see what the Niedermeyers and company have to offer.
Kevin,
Regardless of what the Niedermeyers have done to TTAC, I’ll still pop in to fight.
Someone needs to have the nads to stand up.
The Niedermeyer clan uses TTAC make money. I use it to make a point.
You decide which is more important to you.
It looks like most of you got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning…
@ott,
I wasn’t as civil as I should have been.
I can blame it on painkillers, lack of sleep, and a long session disabusing someone of Bill O’Lielly.
Regardless, I should be more civil.
Mea culpa and all…
“I was oh-so-pleasantly surprised that 99.99 percent of our participants fully followed my previously published guidelines of good behavior at automotive events.”
I’m ecstatic that the public met your arbitrary standards of approval of the moment. I’ll be sure to duck as the planets come careening around your head.
Indeed, it must be most gratifying that your blog has such a major effect on boorish behavior. Or, is it the Power of TTAC ?
Sigh … Where is “Cammy Cruises The Continent. Part 3.” ?
…You mean drunken self-depreciation doesn’t work on you?
McDrunkerson is a Scotish highland tribe…Their tartan looks like mutton mixed with Tennants Super.
LOL, at some point I really believed it was Mr. Schmitt writing the article.
Menos mal que no. jajajajajaj
Drunk middle aged man makes pass at pretty girl. News at 11.
It might be time to move on from the BB chronicles. I’m sure she’s quite the looker (we’ll have to use our imagination on that one lacking any pictures) but these little cute snippets of life standing in front of a car at an autoshow are really not that informative.
Her blog site is posted here somewhere, interested parties can bookmark it for regular visits ( some may homepage it as well) and here’s hoping different filler can be found.
Now that Curbside Classics have returned we may just get our wish.
Geeez, Booth Babe, don’t be such a narc… Want to hang out after you get done writing your next post? There might be an iPhone in it for you. Now, where’d my glass of wine go?
(Damn, I’m smooth…)
I am pretty sure that Booth Babe appreciates men like me. I rarely have the courage to walk to a lady and talk to her.
There is one problem though. If all men were like me, I am not sure the species would survive…
It seems BB wants to be taken seriously, then writes a trite misandric piece about how some men are Aholes when they are drunk. With all her claims of automotive insite, and supposed knowledge of such complicated automotive terms like “torque” I really hoped she’d bring a unique and humorous women’s perspective to TTAC…but so far, I’m still waiting. Heck, I’d even be happy with androgonous perspective. But what we get is “drunk men can be aholes” with no connection with cars and car shows except geography.
BB, here are some ideas for future pieces that would actually benefit from your unique perspective. Automotive design and how it is or isn’t tailored well for women…or shorter people in general (maybe you are tall so that doesn’t apply.) Automotive marketing. Any article about anything actually car related…like the advantages of handling vs. power…I don’t know…just spitballing here.
I must (sort of) agree with the comments above. It would be nice to see Booth Babe chronicles grow up, or go away. I do hope it’s the former, ’cause I think there’s potential for an interesting viewpoint here.
TTAC does a wonderful job telling us about the car business. I enjoy reading about who is selling how many, what cars were good guesses, which failed in the marketplace, which cars are still running after 100,000 km, will dealers ever respect their customers, and will VW ever take responsibility instead of blaming their customers.
Booth Babe is providing me with insights into a part of the car business I have no knowledge of and I enjoy her comments.
In spite of her pointing out that she had to deal with only one jerk at the latest event and the others she met were gentlemen some of you attack her comments. Do you see yourself in the jerk?
Wow, what a bunch of rude and classless A-holes you guys are. If you don’t like what Booth Babe has to say, simply don’t read it. But keep your mean and demeaning comments to yourselves.
Sorry guys, I’m with ott.
If anything, BB is doing a fine job of smoking out the hormone over-dosed idiots. Most of the trolls that condemn her submissions or viewpoints couldn’t produce anything of more substance if their lives depended on it. The lady is making her various contributions with no intention of malice against any of TTAC’s readers.
I believe that most mothers tell their children not to say anything at all if it can’t be something nice. Therefore, if you don’t like what she has to say, move on. Or develop some maturity to modulate those self-righteous opinions.
what contributions ?
“I believe that most mothers tell their children not to say anything at all if it can’t be something nice.”
The irony, of course, is that if BB followed that, most of her “contributions” would be eliminated for not being “nice”.
Then, on the other hand, maybe you’ve got something there. If no one commented on her future “contributions”, then that might send an appropriate message to BS and EN.
Exactly, if that’s what the readers want. On the other hand, she’s written some decent stuff, so this will provide her with some guidance.
Strangely enough though, the controversy generated by posts such as this ironically give TTAC some notoriety to keep the readers coming.
Interesting theory. There isn’t anything to prove BB isn’t just another avenue for Bertel to post.
Yes, opinions are like a-holes. Maybe even drunk a-holes…yet many of the negative opinions here seem to be spot on.
Upon a cruze (spelling paid by GM) over to the Booth Babe’s Blog, it becomes obvious that her writing style relies very heavily on the words “I”, “My”, and “Me”. That is not the style we have come to expect from TTAC – maybe save for Mr. Baruth – and it comes across in this space as grating.
Being highly opinionated and direct when it comes to products and the actions of companies that produce them is one issue, the same vitriol directed at people attending an auto show is tasteless and serves to advance the stereotype that “boothbabes” really are shallow, narcissistic, and hold themselves above the crowd of poor shlubs that file by the exotics they tend. I for one have met very smart, very beautiful, very down-to-earth girls and have to believe that some of them work at auto functions and own a keyboard.
Hearing their perspectives on the automotive industry and is high-dollar marketing function (like we hear from Bertel) would be highly interesting and entertaining from that perspective and I look forward to finding that talented individual. Hearing this individual scold show goers, show goers’ children, and pretty much anyone else who offends her delicate sensibilities really holds no value nor adds to automotive education many come here to receive.
In fact, the only reason I click on these links is in the hope that Bertel makes a guest appearance – since it is his byline – to fulfill my quota of enjoyable BS insights. I could venture a guess that this is the reason many of the B&B click.
But being car guys, I’m sure none of this will deter you from the enjoyment of having a “Boothbabe” at the office Christmas party every year, so…carry on.
(tongue firmly in cheek)