Last summer I had my 57 Chevy road worthy long enough to take it to a car show for the first time. I entered it in the Unfinished category so I could be part of the fun. I had a great time talking to the people who stopped to look at my car and hearing the stories about their cars.
During the awards ceremony, I stood near a group of older guys who obviously knew each other and met at these events on a regular basis. They all had really nice cars. I got the impression that they, themselves, had done most of the work on their cars. Listening to the “color commentary” between them each time an award was announced made me smile. One would ask the other, “Which one was that?” The other would reply some thing like, “You know, the red one with the black interior.” “Oh yeah,” might be the response, “He did a good job on that interior, but I would have painted the exterior a different color.”
However, their attitudes changed when the awards were given for the imports and late model cars. They made negative comments about how they thought imports shouldn’t have been allowed in the car show. When the awards for the late model Corvettes came up, they talked about how some people “just spent a bunch of money” to buy their car from a dealership and shouldn’t even bring their cars to these shows. They showed their disapproval of these types of cars by not clapping for the winners in those categories. Their actions would have appeared disrespectful to anyone who may have been paying attention.
Those good ole’ boys evidently haven’t learned Car Show Rule #1: HAVE FUN! This rule applies to everyone. Everybody that goes to a car show has at least one thing in common; they want to have a good time looking at cool cars. Many of us also like to visit with the great people that own those cool cars. Of course, everyone has their own definition of a cool car. God made each of us different (1 Corinthians 12: 18-30). So, we won’t all agree on a favorite car; however, we can all appreciate that each vehicle at the show is someone’s Pride & Joy and they came to share it with us.
Each vehicle at a car show has a story and the owner is the story teller. It doesn’t matter if the owner did a frame off restoration in their own garage, had help from a mechanic, or they just purchased the car last week. There is always a story. Learning the story of a cool car, and its storyteller, is just as much fun as appreciating the car itself. So, the next time you go to a car show, don’t be a judgy-judger. Have fun getting to know the great people who brought their cool cars and their stories!
