cruisr

LOL. I did go over to take a look. I loved the "cognitive dissonance" comment.
I also looked at the post about Capital One and the comments. He needs more fanboys to come over to the comments section as he is being called out big time for the post title and its contents by many posters.

FallenPlat

I'm not sure what you mean by that, but if you're trying to say that the comments there are SO much better than many of those here then, sure, I agree 100%.

For one, at least many of them appear to focus on the merits; contrariwise, this thread mostly focuses on . . . let's just call it other stuff.

I'll nevertheless readily, and very happily, concede that many comments in the past couple of weeks or so have been a real step up. (I've learned a few new things, anyway.) So color me cautiously optimistic for the future.

josephstern

Here or there?

FallenPlat

Here . . . since the little clean-up.

84fiero

So what merits can be found in today's post with a picture of Lucky's dirty socks and underwear on his hotel room floor?

cruisr

Ummmm, None.

kokonutz

I thought you were kidding! No such luck.

Big_Foot

I bet $100 he staged this sh#t very carefully.
He is a true flying kardashian, jump the shark moment - this or RS?

GUWonder

My take is that such kind of "content" is to be expected from those who want to be known for being known and prefer to be the target of attention (whether by personalized discussion/scorn/ridicule/admiration/etc) rather than to be ignored.

What's the phrase, "attention-______"? That is often applied to people who are of the school of thought that it is better to get a lot of bad attention than less/no attention.

Bloggers in this field are way too often exhibiting signs of that nature, as is evident by so-called click-bait in its various forms.

JetAway

Agree. The stuff is too evenly spaced down the hallway. Perfect setup for a picture. Probably did it at the instigation of a friend.

lwildernorva

I think there's also a secondary purpose here. Some of Ben's reactions to the RS article, including his complaints that he was not able to make revisions to the article before it was published and his disavowals that he contends he travels for free, indicate that he is aware, in some ways, that the article made him look a little too slick, a little too much like a huckster (a term I used in a previous post).

I'd agree with the sentiment several have expressed about the staging of the photograph. A photograph like this seems to say, "See, I'm a regular guy! I leave my underwear on the floor! I'm not that slick salesman/hip guy that Rolling Stone made me out to be! Please keep believing I'm a little guy and not some guy making a ton of money off The Hobby (soon to be a trademark owned by OMAAT)."

JetAway

I sometimes wonder what he and others like him will be doing in 10 years. He's only in his mid-20s. I'm absolutely certain loyalty programs, if they exist at all, will be revenue based by then. Credit card churning will self-destruct. First Class will disappear on most carriers. Ben's a good writer and public speaker. But how will he parlay those talents into a career without those elements which have given him his present success?

josephstern

Maybe, like some others in THE HOBBY, he'll just sell it and retire.

(Mostly just wanted to use THE HOBBY there because it's awesome.)

kokonutz

Maybe I'm just prurient by nature, but I assumed that photo was set up to look like it was the result of a hookup: a trail of clothes strewn off leading to the bed...I thought it was meant to be tittilating.

Especially since he said that that's what his room looked like in the evening....and his hotel room bed is unmade.

GUWonder

kokonutz,

I wouldn't be surprised if it was designed or used to be such a "tell". Whether directed at his broader audience or to some individual or group of individuals, who knows.

Liquidity event. Then? Industry/career change. He can pull it off too, not that I would count on the same kind of attention being part of the picture. [Doing something really notoriously bad doesn't count for getting the same kind of attention.]