The Cool Factor, or... What would Fonzie do?

Step into my office.

I once had a conversation at a wrestling tournament with Coach Gary Bairos, an ASU All-American back in the day, who made a comment that continues to resonate with me. The previous week he had a dual meet against a rival school, and he asked the opposing coach if they could delay the weigh ins for a few minutes so one of his kids, who was finishing up a college entrance exam, could participate. (The rules say that the kids must all weigh in at the same time, shoulder-to-shoulder.)

The other coach told him they could go ahead and weigh everyone in now, (the weight cutters wanted to eat!) and there would be no problem in weighing the other kid in whenever he got there. There is some precedence for coaches mutually adjusting weigh in rules a bit, for convenience sake. So to Gary, this seemed legit.

Just a few minutes after weigh ins concluded, the college-bound athlete arrived, and Gary advised the other coach so they could weigh the kid in. The other coach surprisingly had a change of heart, telling Gary that he "just checked the rule book," and that having him weigh in now would be a violation of the rules, so he could not allow it. Which resulted in forfeiting that weight class during the dual meet, where Gary's kid was favored to win.

Gary said, "He may have been right, but that was not cool."

Since when is being cool a factor when dealing within the rules of athletics?

And why isn't it?

At that moment I installed an internal barometer of coolness when dealing with athletes and coaches, which in some respects, superseded the rules. I deal with people the same way, engaging the "cool factor" as a standard. It is obviously subjective, but determining whether I am being cool or uncool, or if others are, is top of mind.

One of my clients, Tim Swickard at law firm Lewis Brisbois, told me they employ the "No A-hole Rule" when dealing with clients, vendors and fellow lawyers. (This was in response to my mentioning not only how quickly they pay their bills, but how pleasant everyone there was to work with.) Being cool means you're not an a-hole.

Incidentally, I have another client who has what she calls a PITA charge, or extra fees for being a Pain In The A--; but I digress.

The highest result of education is tolerance. -Helen Keller

When I was a kid, there was no shortage of jokes about gay people. As time progressed, gays became viewed as people who sought "tolerance." That soon transitioned from "tolerance" to "acceptance," which has transitioned to "normal." Making fun of a gay person today means you are a small minded bigot who probably is an NRA member. Just like mentioning someone having a "senior moment" makes you an ageist. And heaven help your misogynistic hind parts if you are disagreeable with a member of the fairer sex, because that makes you a woman-hater.

But it is open season if you are a mentally ill celebrity, fat man (not obese woman, that makes you a body-shamer) or adult working at a fast food joint.

Or Christian- we can make fun of them all day long and twice on Sunday.

When I was a kid, Christians were "normal," and there were no rules (i.e., prayer in school) protecting the average citizen from the terribly harmful affects of Christianity. As I grew older, Christianity declined along the spectrum from "normal" to "acceptance," to "tolerance" as the new normal. Christians actually should be transitioned away from tolerance, after all, the KKK is a Christian organization, right?

Unfortunate that the worst in one group is often compared with the best in another, which means acceptance of one class of people is often at the expense of another.

A June 26, 2017 Newsweek article indicated that President Trump hadn't recognized June as LGBT month. The author stated Trump's prolific Twitter account "has remained conspicuously silent about LGBT Pride Month," assigning meaning to the absence of a tweet. Hmm, how much press coverage has been given to a gay Trump supporter being prohibited from a Pride day celebration?

I am a huge proponent of dismissing labels and engaging the no a-hole rule . . . to be accepting of all people while being tolerant of their ideals.

To be cool.

In case you're wondering, July is National Cell Phone Courtesy Awareness Month.  Support the cause.