This is going to be a very stupid post but I had to leave record for future generations.
If you’ve visited Spain and you’ve travelled along the Costa Brava you might have come across Tossa de Mar. A very small town situated at less than 40km from Girona. Although its population has been increasing and the tourism has become quite important in the area, the town still preserves its picturesque corners from its origins in the XII century. It is a beautiful, relaxing and interesting place to spend a weekend in although something is not quite right with the place.
What I didn’t know, and thanks to an English friend I discovered, is that Tossa in Catalan is pronounced the same way as tosser in English, which means wanker. So here we have a town that would translate as Wanker of the Sea. That’s why this town won’t ever be a very popular holiday destination amongst British.
Today in my acting class we were doing exercises relating objects and the concept of status. How an object could become or be perceived as more or less important, given its position in space, its height or position of the other objects in relation to it.
That concept has been dancing in my head for a while given its immediate use in the day to day life, and eventually I’ve decided to put these set of rules on how to become the relevant subject in an office environment which is where I spend most of my day these days.
So you know – “The alpha is the individual in the community whom the others follow” – if you want to be him just practice these rules:
Have a witty comment prepared for each of your office colleagues just in case you bump into one of them in the elevator. For those whom you not say even hello when you come across them on the street too.
If there is a lively discussion within the office and everyone gives their opinion, do not participate. That will break the momentum and you will be perceived as a superior being who is above the rest.
When everyone is working and there is a quite environment in the office, drop an energetic comment loud enough to be heard by everyone. Something like: “Bruce, you are a star!!”.
Similarly, when talking on the phone show yourself confident, talk to your speaker as if you were close friends. Do it slightly loud as well so everyone can notice.
If senior subjects within the organisation empathize you, inmediately the rest of the collegues admire you. Stroll by the office as such.
Tell your anecdotes with passion, as if they were the best thing that has ever happened in your life. Even if it’s the boring baptism of your nephew. Sure somehow you can ridicule a relative.
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If you follow all these rules you will be the object that stands out from the rest. Good luck with your motivations…
Why men in particular feel so attracted to super cars? Is it a hidden feeling of impotence that has to be compensated? Or is it the feeling of being in control of so much power? I don’t know. It could be both actually.
It’s not surprising then, that today I had an amazing day driving a Lamborghini Gallardo around the circuit – full throttle! Let me describe it into more detail.
The entire experience was like meeting, for the first time, a friend’s friend – that was the first time we saw each other so we kind of kept our distance because we didn’t know what we had in common. The typical initial-cautious mutual respect.
After the introduction and the first lap we started to like each other. We realized that maybe the date wasn’t going to be as uncomfortable as we thought…
Second lap and the laughter began. We both were having fun!
Third and fourth lap we trusted each other like you trust your own brother. That trust made us push the limits
From my experience here I put 5 basic steps you might decide to follow before driving a super car in a circuit:
First of all, make sure you are familiarized with the circuit you’ll run in. Difficult corners, gaps, etc. In most cases you’ll complete a couple of laps with an instructor.
Normally there will be a person in charge of the security, so you might want to contact him in the first place and go through the procedure the drivers have to follow in case of an accident and so on.
Make sure you know the basic parts of a corner and how to deal with them. The entry point – do not accelerate passed this point just mantain speed, you don’t want to spin. Apex – the geometric center of the turn. Hitting the apex allows the vehicle to take the straightest line and maintain the highest speed through that specific corner. And exit point – when you can accelerate again.
Once you get into the car spot every single element you’ll need to use. For instance in my case the gearshift was placed just behind the steering wheel and I had one to increase and the other one to decrease gear.
Another aspect is the psychological side. I recommend you to be focused but not tense. Let it flow naturally, don’t be scared – the thing won’t blow up. Enjoy.
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There is no doubt that these cars are designed to flaunt exclusivity and power.
Already on my way back to London and driving a standard car I arrived to the conclusion that in a society power makes you stand out. If everyone had the same power then nobody would stand out. If everyone had a Lamborghini in the garage then, perhaps, driving one wouldn’t be as exciting.
So I don’t know, maybe the answer to why we like these cars so much is close to that?
