mpuzach

Look, I'm not going to get into a discussion with you or anyone else on this. If you look at posts 17 and 49 you'll see what I was talking about and it was not asterisks.

fumbling

Same here, all my obligations out of the way, my first car was a sensible Honda Accord M5 and my final car is a sensible 32mpg Corvette M7!

falconhulk

Don't get all uppity. Someone gave you the false impression that you are the final authority on something. You quoted stars brother. Go look at your post.

fourmat

Ask your friends to come over and help you wax it. You will find out who your friends are

oemtech

They are just jealous.

I payed off all of my debts back in 2004.

I have a 2010 Hemi Challenger, a 2014 Cadillac ATS 2.0 Turbo DD and a 08 Corvette. I have taken the Challenger & the ATS to the Texas Mile and ran 155 and 144 respectively. I took the Corvette to the track a ran 12.44. Bottom line, I could care less what anyone thinks about what I do as I am having a blast before I take a dirt nap.

Rowteree

Tons of positive comments and great advice from those who have been there.

had no idea that my simple woes would cause a reaction amongst so many in this forum.

to answer any questions of where I live in Houston, it's a bit off the grid in one of those smaller towns 😄😂

mpuzach

This thing has gotten WAY bigger than I intended. When I look at posts 17 and 49 on my screen, there are no stars; every word is spelled out in its entirety. That's what I was objecting to. I'm not such an idiot that I would have whined about stars. Is it possible that some here have an add-on or app that automatically substitutes stars for certain words (seriously)? I'm thinking that such may be the case since more than one person here thinks I'm complaining about stars.

dvilin

No stars as you noted, but if I log in on my smartphone the same reply does have *****.
Not sure what is going on.

mpuzach

Thanks for that info, David. It confirms that it's highly possible for some to see the actual text while others see only stars. It must be some type of app.

TwoVettes6916

I bought my first Corvette (used C3) when I was 28 and on active duty in the Navy. I was an E-6, was assigned as an instructor while on my tour of shore duty, single, had purchased my first home about a year prior to that, worked a second job off and on, was enrolled in a weekend college program to finish off another degree, managed my money as well as I could (in my opinion).

A long time ago a wise Navy philosopher recommended that I not worry about what other people think, unless they offer to pay my bills for me. I have found that philosophy works pretty well in a lot of different scenarios.

The Corvette is an American icon. You know how you feel when you look at yours, when you get in and start the engine, and when you drive it. Few other cars will make you feel like that. It is something that is hard to explain; it has to be experienced. That is a big reason why people are drawn to them.

Enjoy your car. Tell anyone who has a problem with you owning it to respectfully mind their own damned business.

direct007

If you take the view that some people are struggling to make ends meet or may not even be able to make ends meet and may or may not have the opportunities that you have had to get ahead in life and that you have been blessed with success that has enabled you to afford your car and home, you will have in fact found humility and that will come across when you speak to people from all walks of life. I have a friend that is a multi millionaire and you would never know it, he is very down to earth, dresses like a blue collar guy and doesn't come across snobbish, he has friends from all walks of life and he understands what it's like to struggle and work paycheck to paycheck as those were his roots. There will always be people that are jealous and wouldn't know an opportunity if it smacked them in the face and there are people that want to get ahead and are happy for your success. How you come across to other people and who you choose to associate with will make a difference in your perception as well as other people's perception of you regardless of what material things you may possess and what car you choose to drive.

DAFFYDRUNK

I was at a car show with one of my friends and her parents. She dropped an f bomb and got yelled at. Haha. She's 46. I've been dropping em for so long in front of my parents that they gave up making me eat soap, and have started doing it too. I'm gonna have to stop swearing to be cool again...

FYREANT

Apparently me too.. lol

village idiot

This is a very good post and should be reemphasized.

Virtually every one of my friends is vastly wealthier than me. They founded startups that are probably worth 9 figures, they have private jets, they have Maybachs and drivers, etc.

I've come to realize how "jealous" people are of their stuff and how much people dislike them for their success is directly related to how they treat others. I watched my friend in 5 years start a company out of his garage (literally) and a few months ago, he raised $15M in his last private equity round. He drives a nice car- no one seems to give him any grief for it.

My grandfather had his own business for years and did well (in a land far far away and lost most for political reasons). To this day he still preaches the importance of treating people well. Summarized and loosely, translated, he always said that you can judge a person by the respect they have for those that they don't have to respect.

One of the attorneys I admire most is a man who is by every stretch of the imagination very successful. He has a lot of money, he has a distinguished career and he's very highly respected. When he walks down the halls of the criminal courthouse, littered with poor, drug addicted, uneducated people that couldn't afford one of the boots (this is Texas) he is wearing, he says hi and good morning to every person he passes. It's incredible watching people's eyes light up as this tall, well dressed, established lawyer greets them with respect. No one ever seems to be jealous of him or hold his accomplishments against him.

Why do I say this? Well, to be honest, when I was younger I had a fair amount of success for my age (way less than I have now) and seemed to get a lot the same blow back you are experiencing now. Around my late 20s, I learned a lot of humility, sometimes the hard way, and that all seemed to go away. I took a lot of things for granted and was a bit tone deaf to how hard a lot of people have it. I worked hard, I worked smart, I did a lot of schooling, but in the end, I had a lot of luck- and any remotely self aware, remotely successful person will tell you the same thing if they're being honest.

I learned more as I got older. I realized people in bad positions were there for a reason- often times one bad event or day. Something went wrong and it created a hole they couldn't climb out of. Often, it was a poor decision that led to a poor consequence, but I made plenty of poor decisions. After a while I realized that could easily be me. I realized a lot of things could have gone a lot worse. I could have had that one bad day. I could have got caught doing some things I shouldn't have. I could have come out on the short end of one of my many stupid decisions growing up. Heck, work aside, what separates a lot of us is nothing more than the luck of not getting caught. I could have picked a job with a different company that went out of business. I could have not had a few of those "good days" that accelerated my career. I'm very fortunate.

Maybe this applies to you, maybe it doesn't. Maybe you're experiencing it because you have more success at a younger age than me. One thing I've learned growing up, it never hurts to reflect on yourself and question if there is anything you can improve about yourself. Maybe take a reflective look and see if it's your behavior, conscious or unconscious, that in conjunction with your success is why you're being treated the way you are. Just remember, no matter how big of a deal you think you are or how successful you think you are right now, you're barely minnow in a very large ocean.

Enjoy your success.

GILSWHO

Don't worry about it. Youworked for it. I bought my first one at age 22. It was a brand new, right off the truck 1984 and I still have it. When I turned 50, my wonderful wife bought me a 67 convertible. and last week I bought a new C7. I know I have "lost" some "friends" because of this and my house, etc. I don't show off, I work 60-80 hours a week, volunteer where I can, put my kids through college college, etc. What i'm trying to say, from experience is, worry about what you think of yourself, and have friends that enjoy your success with you and are not jealous of it.

walker3

my first car was a loaded thunderbird my dad said if I had one payment left he would let them take it

I had kids young my friends would pass and blow the horn - when I got older got my first vette - they were at the ball field with their kids - I would blow my horn

you seem like a leader not a follower - so enjoy the car seem you are a good worker - after a good days work it is nice to drive a nice car

patentcad

Maybe it's that @ 59.5 years of age I am long past the point of caring what other people think. You do your best. No matter what you do you'll **** some people off. I try to let all that go, and I've gotten pretty good at doing so.

But seriously, most of the people here in Orange County NY (which puts the lunchpail in johnny lunchpail, it's hardly as affluent as Bergen County NY where I grew up) couldn't be nicer or more supportive. If anyone is resentful of my Corvette(s) (I had a 2007 red C6 coupe prior to the C7) they keep it to themselves. All the comments I get seem to be heartfelt admiration for the car.

I really get the feeling most Americans LOVE Corvettes and far from resenting anybody who drives one, they almost find it inspiring as in 'hey, if that guy can afford that cool sports car maybe I can get on some day too'. That's how I always felt about them.

darkLight

This is key: Join a car club or find friends who enjoy driving. I'm 30 and there's plenty out here in Austin who enjoy cars and many more who don't want anything fancy.

What I see is most folks my age would rather spend 5k on a vacation every year than drive something nice. I enjoy every DAY that I drive my C7.

EmbraceNext

I get #6 way too often. I understand the 'ignore' comments but its kind of hard when they ride your *** or cut you off when you don't race them. I don't know why people can't understand I don't want tickets.

AORoads

It takes too much time to think of something appropriate. Better to just shoot and aim later.