Intercepted!!!!! …by the Police!

So what did you do right after the Super Bowl ended? Cheer for The New England Patriots on their exciting win with seconds remaining? Chastise Pete Carroll of The Seattle Seahawks for what some say was a very poor coaching decision to call a pass play, when the whole world was thinking run out the clock (while others agree with Pete’s thought process, as he clearly explained to Matt Lauer on The Today Show)? Dump Gatorade all over the host of the party that you attended, for the fine entertainment that they provided for the big game?

Well, I know what I did: after reaching vehicle accidents that follow those famous words (this year uttered by a guy who vehemently denied that he had “deflated balls” two weeks prior to the game), “I’m going to Disneyworld!”

Why do I say that? Am I a sadistic monster looking to see the loss ratios of “my friends, my buddies, my pals” (to borrow a line from “The Honeymooners”) who own insurance agencies rise exponentially? Do I own stock in a local collision repair shop? Nope. Nada…not even close!

Well here’s the reason why I say that: in many areas around the country, Super Bowl Sunday has grown to be one of the most dangerous days during the year to be on the road, particularly during the hours right before kickoff and especially right at the conclusion of the Super Bowl, and right after the MVP expresses to the world precisely where his next vacation is going to be (or at least gets paid a healthy sum to make believe he is going there), as an exorbitant amount of alcohol is consumed before, during, and right after the conclusion of the game.

In California for instance, according to their state’s insurance department, more accidents occur on Super Bowl Sunday than any other Sunday during the winter months, as game day increases the risk of an alcohol related fatal injury crash by 77%. As per a statement by the Insurance Commissioner of California, “Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest one-day sporting event in the U.S. and unfortunately one of the most dangerous days on California’s roads and highways, and every one of us has a responsibility to ensure we do not contribute to the problem by allowing a drunk or drugged driver to hit the road.”

This information was provided by ChiPS (you remember that TV show a few years back) and the Automobile Club of Southern California, which by the way offers free towing from 18:00 hours on Super Bowl Sunday to 06:00 hours (that’s 6 PM to 6 AM for you civilians) to help deter Super Bowl partiers from drinking and driving. So the next time you attend a Super Bowl party at a friend’s home, and have the urge to pour that bowl of punch over their head at the conclusion of the game (which probably would not make their wife too happy), think twice about how much of that punch those folks at the party may have consumed before any of them say, “I’m going to Disneyworld” and head for home.

So last week I attended (along with hundreds of my closest insurance friends in the New York Metropolitan area) the PIA of New York’s Metropolitan Regional Awareness Program (MetroRAP) convention, held at the Brooklyn Marriott (“Garden spot of the world” as we Brooklynites like to say… “How sweet it is!”). A wonderful job by the entire PIA RAP committee, and by our lovely PIA staff (you, too, Ed and Nick!) for once again hosting a most exciting and extremely successful New York event.

“MetroRAP is PIANY’s first major net- working and education event of 2015—and we are always pleased to start the year with great success thanks to the participation of so many professionals,” said MetroRAP Chair Dina Bruno of MetLife Auto and Home. “This year has been particularly dynamic with greater use and access to social media; live tweets posted on the big screen in the trade show and even enjoying a visit from CNN… We’re growing and getting better every year.”

Also on the horizon are the “insurance spring indicators” (as I like to call them) such as the PIA of CT conference held at The Foxwoods Hotel and Casino, the Westchester E Day in Tarrytown, NY, Buffalo I Day, Pittsburgh I Day, and the PIA Long Island RAP event that I have the honor of chairing …just to name a few. Please, I ask you, when attending these exciting and educational events come up and say hi to me! Who knows, maybe you’ll even get your picture in my column in the Insurance Advocate!

Well, time to brag a little…maybe a lot! I am so very proud to announce that my son, Devin Loguercio, who recently graduated from The University of Hartford with Bachelor Degrees in political science, economics, and foreign affairs, has accepted a position at Atlantic Insurance Agency in North Babylon, NY. Devin, who has been a member of the Young Insurance Professionals of New York for a couple of years now and grew up around “this thing of ours” (thanks to dear ol’ dad and all my buddies in this industry who watched him grow up), said, “It is an honor to follow in my Dad’s footsteps, and a privilege to be a part of an industry that helps people at a time when they are in the most need.” Devin went on to say, “Thank you to Jeff Liebowitz of Atlantic Insurance Agency for affording me this incredible opportunity, and I look forward to a very successful and rewarding career with the firm.” Jeff Liebowitz, owner of Atlantic Agency commented, “We welcome Devin to the Atlantic Agency family, and he has already proven to be a wonderful asset!”

Congratulations, Devin, and all the best, my son! You always make me so very proud to be your Dad …I love you!

A little over 30 years ago, a wonderful friend and gentleman offered me a job in his insurance agency, and on my first day handed me a copy of the Insurance Advocate magazine, and told me that “…if I am going to be in this business I should read this magazine regularly…especially Michael Carbajal’s column about local insurance agencies and the independent broker.” I did as he said, and immediately became a fan of that column. Well, on a very sad note, it is with profound sorrow that I pass along in this column that George Campo, one of the owners and founders of Phoenix Brokerage, LTD on Long Island, NY, passed away last week.

I met George back when I was in high school in Brooklyn, working for his dad who had a butcher shop near where I lived. George and I worked together at that shop, where he taught me to eat “exotic and gourmet” foods like cow’s kidneys…which he used to swear kept him out of Viet Nam (long story!). Although George was the owner of the company that I worked for, and my boss, he quickly became my big brother in the insurance industry, mentoring me as I learned from him to become an insurance broker. He sent me to Werbel’s School of Insurance to get licensed, and always provided me with some sound life advice in areas of health, marriage, and everything in between.

I can sit all day and tell you stories about George, how we used to laugh and cry all at the same time…but my favorite George story of all time occurred on the day that George called me into his office, making me think that he was angry at me for some reason and that I was getting fired, he promoted me to sales manager of one of the agency’s remote offices.

Hopefully our Editor, Steve Acunto won’t edit out the one word that I am going to say below which makes the whole story very funny!

Here it is, my favorite George story of all time: the guys in the Phoenix Brokerage main office were always playing practical jokes on each other, and after closing the remote office for the day, on my first day as the new sales manager, one of the brokers from the main office came to my office to pick up the day’s paperwork. While he was there alone, as a “congratulations” to me on my promotion, he proceeded to Crazy Glue everything on my desk…to the desk itself ! The phone,?the pens, the paper, even the paper- clips and stapler! Anything that could?be picked up was glued down!

Well, when I came in the next morning, needless to say I was “visually upset”…to say the least! I knew exactly who it was that had committed this (what I now say is probably the funniest practical joke anyone has ever played on me!) heinous act, and I was going to call him up and “blast” him for what he did, as I was certain that it would literally take me a couple of hours to unglue everything, and then scrape off all of the remaining glue.

So in my anger and haste, I dial what I believed to be the perpetrator’s extension at the main office, and when a man’s voice answers, I say in a very loud and angry tone, “Yo, scumbag!” …only to hear on the other side, a very gentle voice reply, “Michael?”

I immediately reply back, “Georrrrrrrrge?” I hear in return (as I now realize that I mistakenly dialed the wrong extension), “Is everything alright, Michael?” Oh….yeah….fine, George, thanks for asking!” I say into the phone that I had just plied off the desk and was sticking to my hand, right after I had just cursed out my boss on the day after he promoted me. “Have a nice day, Michael,” George said. I reply, “Thank you, you too, George” and I hung up.

Anyway, now I’m REALLY angry, and the other folks in the office who were staring at me in disbelief throughout my whole conversation with George as they over- heard what I just called the president of the company, are trying not to laugh…asking me if I really just cursed out the boss!

All of a sudden the phone begins to ring off the hook, from all the people in the main office calling me, asking me why I just cursed out the boss. Apparently what happened after I hung up with George was that he went around the office hysterically laughing, telling everyone that he “…pro- motes me, and I curse him out!”…and he didn’t even know why! In true George spirit, he laughed it off.

Well the next day, the messenger delivers to me a box, from George. In the box was a hat from White Castle, with a note that said, “Enjoy your new job, scumbag!”

The column that I mentioned earlier, the one that George told me to read and which quickly became my most favorite column in the magazine (sorry, my fellow Insurance Advocate columnists), was replaced in April of 2008 by a new writer who took on the same approach and the column was renamed, “Face to Face”. That new writer is yours truly, Michael Loguercio. Thank you, George. Rest in peace, my friend …

Ciao for now.