Into it

A few years ago the ad agency I was working for sent me on an assignment to attend the Hill Country Wine Festival to figure out if winery owners needed our services. It was a pretty cool gig; I got to go to the outdoor festival for free (Frank too) and sample all sorts of wine. And before that I went to the Four Seasons hotel to listen to panels of wine experts talk about wine. When I walked into the Four Seasons I looked around at all the wine enthusiasts. Many had on t-shirts with wine-inspired slogans like, “Good wine is a necessity of life for me,” (a quote by Thomas Jefferson) and “You had me at Merlot.”

I thought, “What would it be like to be so into wine that you actually buy t-shirts and attend a convention?” I thought maybe it was a life I could handle. I dove deeper into the wine-obsessed psyche when I attended one of the panels. The people were asking all sorts of questions about grapes and fermenting...I had no idea what they were talking about. And the way they stuck their noses way down into the wine glasses…odd. These people were REALLY into wine. I left that wine convention thinking, wino = weirdo,

Then there are people who are really into Nascar. They spend much of the year driving around from race to race, camping out at race tracks and for what? To watch cars go round and round…round and round. And don’t even get me started on their t-shirts, jackets, hats and tattoos. I just don't get it.

I guess it's because I'm not that into anything. I mean, I like spinning. I’ve even gone to some training weekends that may be considered convention-esque. But I don’t think about it all the time…not even most of the time. I like cooking but to be really into it I’d have to take cooking classes and definitely get a Kitchen Aid mixer.

So since I’m not an “into it” kind of person I’m fascinated by the things that people choose to be into. Like they’re so into it they can steer any conversation towards that subject: karate, golf, Wide Spread Panic.

The other day I saw a “Pimp my Ride” where the guy was really into paintball. Did you know there were people who were really into paintball? He goes to tournaments and he actually had paintball enemies who had paintballed his car—thus the need to have his ride pimped.

I used to write this column called “My Favorite Workout” and every week I’d interview people who were really into their workout. The people who were into hooping were the most into their sport. Again, I ask: did you know there were people who were really into hooping? Not just “Hey, it’s kinda cool to hula hoop…” No, I mean seriously into hooping. Like going to festivals, conventions and hooping for hours a day.

If I’m starting to inspire you to get into something, you need to consider the following facts:

Being into something costs a lot of money
Being into something takes a lot of time

So if you don’t have time or money I think it’s better to just piddle around in different things. Anyone feel like playing some paintball and then going for a glass of wine? See? Moderation is so much more manageable. And you don’t have to attend any conventions.