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Saying Mitch Hotts is a bit eager for the auto show charity preview is like saying Donald Trump speaks unwisely now and then.
The Macomb Daily veteran posts an advance look at Friday night's swanky gala because, he says, "people often ask me at this time of year: What's it like being at Charity Preview?" If that seems a way to brag about "attending several of the $400-per-person, black-tie event at Cobo Center," you think like us.
Those phrases in the top two sentences open a cascade of superlatives from the Roseville writer, hired by the suburban paper 34 years ago after graduating from Wayne State.
This week's preview column brings to mind frothy society coverage in newspapers of a bygone age. There's language that seems like a poor parody of Cole Porter lyrics:
Upon entering Cobo Center, the excitement builds with glamorous gals and fashionable fellows in line for the first of many photo ops.
There's a Playboy-era comparison of vehicles and va-va-voom ladies:
You get to check out eye-catching car designs competing with beautiful women . . .
Not everything sounds retro. Hotts has a digital era salute to those who share look-where-I-was snapshots:
Cell phones and selfie-sticks are the must-have accessories to snap photos on the showroom floor.
He also mentions a "bevy of bigwigs," "gourmet appetizers" and "gourmet food," but neglects a dangling sentence awaiting closure:
You’re paying for the experience to be among the area’s movers and shakers, from auto industry hot shots to local celebs to .
But hey, we're not totally uncharitable about this suburban fanboi who enjoys a splashy, flashy night downtown. Hotts gets credit for avoiding a cliché dropped into most charity preview coverage.
He never calls it the car prom, so there's that.
