When in Roma.
This is a satirical website. Don't take it Seriously. It's a joke.
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At the Roma Banquet Hall in Garden City Michigan, people mill around waiting for their turn on stage. Many smoke or nervously sip coffee to pass the time. Some anonymous contestants shoot furtive looks at other people, not knowing who’s in the game and who’s just here to watch or lend support. Some may nod or tip their styrofoam coffee cup in a tacit acknowledgement of fellow contestants, a few chat inquisitively with other contestants hoping to get a leg up on those they could meet up with when it’s their turn to duel. Many wear well worn clothing with logos or Band names that have long since passed into obscurity.
The game here is competitive Reputation Enrichment, commonly known as name dropping.
To some a name dropper is someone who seems to use every conversation, or other social interaction, to mention celebrities, politicians, executives, or popular individuals in an attempt to seem cooler or more elite than average. Some name droppers salivate at the opportunity to mention they have met, known or seen a famous person, and will insert a name into any conversation possible, despite how obscure or irrelevant the celebrity is.
Some see name droppers as vain people, insecure about their popularity or image, who must resort to the inclusion of names of the opposite sex and or popular people who have little or no relevance to the conversation topic in order to achieve a self-gratifying level of social acceptance.
To those outside the Reputation Enrichment sphere, attempts to impress others with name-dropping are quite easy to spot, and in turn, the person is seen as a wanker.
A great many name droppers don’t recognize what they do as an affliction, they see it as just part of their genetic makeup, like being left handed. Some veterans of the Reputation Enrichment game meet critics head on and relish their task. They see what they do as a form of standup comedy, without being funny. Psychologists hold quite varied views on Reputation Enrichment, it is evaluated as both normal and aberrant.
Many of the younger contestants are at the Roma Banquet Hall to compete, though also to see a wily veteran of the Reputation Enrichment game, seen as the Maestro of the field. Known simply as “Paul B” to a younger generation he is seen as very adept at his craft, to many he’s seen as a game changer.
An anonymous young contestant tells us that “Paul pioneered the use of non verbal of Reputation Enrichment, wearing T-Shirts with prestigious names of companies he’d never worked for or places he’s never been.” Paul is still on top of his game, evolving it to suit the age of Social Media. “His profile shows a distinguished state university that he hasn’t worked for in over two decades” and “say’s he owns some bar, The Old Town, but his name is not on the deed” and that he “is the Vice President of Operations, with the Tree Town Drinking Consortium.” This younger generation hopes to learn what they can or at least pick up a new trick to hone their craft. Or just do what they do.
At the end of the evening the crowd all head their separate ways, some go home, some to work, some to meet up at a local bar or the Cracker Barrel down the road. They each leave satisfied. They each had a shot, they were in the game. Though not all winners, they do know the winner’s name.
This is a satirical website. Don't take it Seriously. It's a joke.