I remember once when he was running to be re-elected County Commissioner, Buzzy addressed a group of folks by noting that he had heard more common sense and good ideas in our tobacco barns than he had ever heard sitting around a political table in Leonardtown.
After hearing him say this, I later told him “Dad, that was a good line, but you know the official term for that is “collective wisdom.” You should use that.” He dismissed me by saying “That sounds too highfalutin. I’ll stick with saying people in tobacco barns.” (Remember, Buzzy grew up on a tobacco farm. Hence, he had had some experience and was comfortable with relating that idea.)
I mention this, not to show you how Buzzy treated and ignored my advice in general, but because he recognized that the majority of people were smart and that they had some good things to say about how to get things done and solve problems. That old cliche about being a man of the people certainly fit Buzzy. For 50 some years he sat behind the counter in the Store and listened to folks tell their stories, opinions and tales of life. Obviously, he enjoyed doing so.
On the other side of this equation however, are folks who do not have as much faith in people overall as did Buzzy. Collective wisdom of people, or whatever you choose to call it, for some is a non-starter as shown in this exchange on the FB page Angry Bartender:
Now granted, maybe barrooms are not exactly the best places to try and pursue any collective wisdom surveys. Consumption of large amounts of alcohol by very opinionated folks, it tends to follow that the odds of something dumb getting said increase accordingly. Collective dumbness vs. wisdom will inevitably take over.
I can see and appreciate where bartenders, such as the above commentators, can have their negative opinions about people. However, the bottom line is that if you want to be in the hospitality business, you better like dealing with people regardless how smart or dumb they are or appear to be.
Check out Belushi doing two cartwheels (:45 and :55) before launching into this Bartender tune: