You Know You Work in the Automotive Aftermarket When…

We all enter the automotive aftermarket as mild mannered men and women. But as certain as the sun is to rise, we all morph into mini motorheads at some point in our career. So, how does a person know when they’re in too deep, destined for a lifetime of fast and loud? Well, we asked a few industry professionals for some tell-tale signs.

• You take your kids to SEMA instead of Disneyland.
• Your toddler has her own parking pad.
• You use a WARN winch to bring the garbage to the curb.
• You get goose bumps when someone asks you to help change a spare tire.
• Chevy Chase’s movies are nothing what you thought they would be: no Chevy, no car chases.
• All dress shirts have a Keystone logo.
• Or better yet, 95% of your wardrobe has an automotive label!
• You know more about the part than the counterman…
• Daytona Jeep Beach is considered a vacation and you live the next town over.
• You ask the cable company for a deeper discount off jobber.
• Your primary social circle outside business hours is the supplier community.
• You just learned that a popular cartoon is also named Road Runner.
• The topic of conversation with your father-in-law at Christmas Eve dinner is carburetors.
• You judge a vehicle by the quality/quantity of aftermarket parts.
• Grocery store discounts are discussed in terms of “x off jobber.”
• Your keyboard is covered in oil from that build the night before.
• You can’t walk through a parking lot without checking out every tonneau cover on display.
• Trade show season is considered a road trip experience.
• You tell your wife you’ve planned this year’s vacation and her response is – “where’s the race?”
• Your car/truck breaks and you immediately start thinking about the upgraded part to replace it with.
• You get two calls in one Friday afternoon looking for muffler bearings.
• You think fuzzy dice are cool.
• Date nights are reserved for binge watching the Velocity Channel.
• Your wife subscribes to The Shop Newsletter and talks to you about the press releases over breakfast.
• You recorded an episode of Gas Monkey Garage over your wedding video.
• Half of your Facebook feed toggles between funny pictures of cats and Jeep builds or new product launches and video clips of growling exhaust systems.
• You know Chip Foose’s astrological sign.
• You have a framed picture of George Lathouris in your office.

For those readers familiar with the Keystone team, we challenge you to share this feature on your own Facebook page with your guesses of who said what. The first person to get all answers correct will win some FREE swag! Karen Auker, Tom Sabetta, Tim Space, Erich Ross, Dan Guyer, Chuck Wallace, Mike Buckwash, Simon Mallette, Dave Turner, and Engine Block contributing writer Stefanie Zalutko.