Tonight I went down to the newest Porsche dealer in the area, Porsche of Beachwood. I drive a 2006 911 Convertible, and actually bought it from one of the two progenitors of this dealership (Roger Penske bought Stoddard and Fred Baker Porsche, and in an unholy union made them one). I saw the salesman there who sold me the car.

I went because it was an opportunity to see some rare Porsches. I love cars. What I didn’t love necessarily was the feeling of elitism that was present. It was quite early when I went (I wanted to miss our esteemed Governor Kasich) but the delineation was quite clear: over-40 white men served by younger staff, of which a large quantity was 20-something black men. Not that I typically care (hey you work where you can in this economy), except for an incident I had while leaving.

After 30 minutes I was fed up with the feel of the event. It wasn’t about the cars, it was about the spectacle and exclusivity of the venue. Valet parking and fluted wine glasses and at least 20 wait-staff. Bah, I just wanted to see the cars. I called for my 911 from the valet parking staff.

They had a screw-up and ended up pulling my car up facing the wrong way. No biggie, but I had to drive around the back of the facility to get to the exit and freedom.

Now, I’m a black guy; I don’t normally think about it though. I live MY life, not what is stereotypically define for my demographic. I drove back behind the building past a crowd of staff preparing for the Event. As I neared the exit I saw some guy coming running out screaming and waving at me. WTH? I know I was going the right way. But I stopped and backed up until he caught up. I rolled the window down.

He comes up to the window and looked in, a bit shocked.

“Oh sorry sir, my mistake! I thought you were one of my guys driving the wrong way to valet. I’m sorry.”

Sorry indeed. Not the impression I’m sure Mr. Penske (who did come up to me and shake my hand, I appreciate that) wanted to evoke in his new facility. Lots of luck to him. I’ll just keep buying from Porsche of North Olmsted, thank you.