Hi, Dan. I liked you essay on the Assaults on Cool. It seems I have a lot in common with your dad. I never knew what it meant to acquire "cool" inasmuch as I was a nerdy kid from the wrong side of the tracks who dressed in hand-me-downs. After college I wound up in Vietnam - not cool. After Vietnam fitting in became impossible. Combat mae me unemployable so I started my own business. Success brought me in touch with "cool" well heeled individuals. Eventually I was asked to join a club. i do not drink, I do not smoke, I do not play golf, I do not own a TV, and I'm a one woman man . I stopped trying to impress people before I left the battlefields of Vietnam. As for the Mercedes, I think it's a great car but I would never buy anything German. WWII, the Holocaust, yada, yada. You know. All my Army buddies are gone and I remain to tell the story of our thousand and one near death experiences. But I think your writing is "cool" regardless of your clothes, car, and other "cool" essentials. As for me, my wife and kids, and come to think of it, most people who know me, think I'm a loser. But I'm good in that skin. Just saying. Best regards.