You’re So Vain
Paraphrasing Carly Simon, “You’re so vain, you probably think this blog is about you, don’t you?”
Unless you are my hot trophy wife, Miss Sugar, this blog is not about you, but I could not resist the phrase as the title. If you are Miss Sugar, the blog is indeed about you. And you know why!
On this very day in history, Miss Sugar had occasion to present a check at the bank on which it was written in order to cash it. The bank employees, oblivious to the fame of the person presenting the check, namely, The Miss Sugar, treated her as if she was merely a member of the general public. Get this — the teller actually asked for a photo identification.
Miss Sugar produced for the teller’s inspection her unexpired driver’s license issued by The State of Colorado, including a photograph. Unfortunately, the teller did inspect the I.D. Too closely. He seemed alarmed, or at least irritated. He hesitated and then said, “It appears that there is an alternate picture pasted onto the front of your license. Can you explain that please?”
Miss Sugar had a ready and truthful explanation, which was also an admission.
“Yes, the picture is from my old license. I substituted that photo.”
“Why did you do that?” the teller asked.
“Because the driver’s license bureau does not allow you to smile in the photos on the new licenses. I liked my old photo better because I am smiling. So, I cut the picture from my old license and pasted it on top of the new photo on my new license. It is still me. It simply depicts me smiling (at a younger age).”
Licenses in Colorado are renewed every ten years.
The teller left to consult with the bank manager. They had to make a big decision. It took twenty minutes to make the big decision.
Finally, the teller returned. He cashed the check and said, “You can go now. Have a nice day!”
A smile can go a long way.

Being an Influencer Requires Being Cool
Nowadays, there are people on the interweb who are so cool that others seek to emulate them. They are called influencers. Being cool is obviously a pre-requisite; e.g., The Kardashians. Once a cool person reaches the status of being an influencer, that status can be, as we say in the business, monetized. That means the influencer gets paid by the makers of the product that the influencer says is cool, or, just by wearing or using the product, shows it is cool.
While I did not coin the term influencer, I pretty much showed how influencing is done for much of my life, except for the monetization part.
Next I will provide a few examples which prove my ability to influence members of the general public to try to copy me. The reasons are obvious — the copycats are trying to be cool because they see I am cool. It is called emulation. It is the highest form of flattery.
There are many photos of me as a young male person wearing a cowboy hat. All of the pictures in what my mother called my “baby book” (which label I resented) depict me wearing a cowboy hat. You readers have probably noticed that many cowboys and celebrities still wear cowboy hats TO THIS DAY!
There are countless other examples, but WordPress has storage space limitations. So I will just briefly mention a couple more.
Back in the seventies, I went to the Army and Navy Surplus Store and bought a pair of bellbottom pants. Well, pretty soon every teenager was wearing bellbottoms. You can look it up.
In recent years, I have experimented with facial hair fashions. This is something The Kardashians have avoided. They don’t try to compete with me. But look around! Notice the many men, young and old, copying some of my mustache and beard styles. Most can’t pull it off, but it doesn’t hurt to try. Who can blame them? They want to be cool.
Now if I can just monetize the project.