Pangolin execs driving exotic automobiles? Just incase you were wondering...

[Pangolin]

Hi folks,

After we got back from the last SELEM, Aaron told me that he overheard some SELEM attendees grumbling about something I had said. The nature of the grumbles was when I was discussing that none of the Pangolin executives (most especially me, who drives a 2006 Toyota Highlander) drive an exotic automobile, because we use the money we earn and reinvest it in future developments. Apparently there was some quiet dissent on the part of someone or a few folks who found a picture in my son's private Facebook photos -- a picture that perhaps appeared to be "me giving my son Will Benner the keys to my Mercedes Benz".

Well folks, just so you know, here's the whole story: The truth is that my wife and I purchased a used Honda Civic for my son's 18th birthday. A year later, on his 19th birthday, he was nearly killed by (what we believe is) a drunk driver who ran a red light and hit our son doing 80MPH in a 45 zone, totaling both cars. One of the pictures is below. Earlier today I posted others on my Facebook photos as well.


If you're keeping track of ages, Will was then an adult -- at 19 years old -- living on his own -- no longer in control of the parents and fully capable of making his own choices...

When he received the settlement money from our insurance company, as his parents -- quite impressed how the Honda had saved his life, we wanted him to get another Honda. And he tried... We went to a lot of car lots and put him right back behind the wheel of the same type of car. But he just couldn't do it. It just felt too weird. I guess I can't blame him... So he searched online at local used car lots and chose for himself a 2005 Mercedes C300 with 50,000 miles. Surprisingly, these cars can be bought for around the same price as a much newer used Honda. So he bought that for himself.

As staging for a Facebook photo, my wife took a picture of me handing him the keys. The picture was posted in Will's private photos. Nevertheless, someone at SELEM (and subsequently in a recent Facebook post too) apparently thought it was me giving him the keys to my Mercedes... There's jumping to conclusions for you...


Anyway, now you all know the whole story. I hope the person who thought I was a liar about our exotic automobiles is now happy ...

Bill

[Bradfo69]

Bill,
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I don't have time this morning for a lengthy reply but, I've followed this silliness of the past 24 hours and I'm sorry that once again you are in a position to be defending yourself against stupid accusations and hypotheses. Quite frankly, who gives a rats ass whether you drive a 10 year old Toyota or, swap out for a new Maserati every year. Or have a modest 3,000 sf home versus a 7,000 monster with a bowling alley and sun room with Jacuzzi off the master bedroom suite. You've spent an entire career working tirelessly to build an internationally known company regarded by most as the gold standard for laser control software as well as a host of other products and, along the way have given away thousands upon thousands of dollars in products, time, and energy to help even those who may never be able to afford to buy much more than a damn Lasorb.
.
Whatever creature comforts you chose for yourself and your family to enjoy in your personal life is nobody's friggin' concern. I fully get that trying to use the example that you, as well as other employees, don't drive expensive cars and live modestly gave certain people ammunition to "search" and maybe those individuals would be better served finding jobs with the Sun or the National Inquirer or something. Regrettably it's a price of success that many unfortunately have to pay. At least I don't think they're sitting outside your house in white unmarked vans with video cameras directed out a pin hole or picking through your garbage can yet.
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Sorry you've had to go through this. One of the most amazing things I have found about this laser community is the overwhelming quality of the majority of people involved but, you naturally find a few bad eggs in every crowd. I've stumbled across a few.

[blowfly]

William my heart skipped and I went into full parental freak out when I saw the pictures of your son's crash. What a nightmare. Glad everything turned out well except for maybe a bit of gossip.

[swamidog]

i didn't know you had a son, but i'm glad he's ok.

[hitekvoop]

My unsolicited $.02.

Bill, I say drive whatever the heck you want. You're an entrepreneur and business owner providing top shelf service to your customers. There's no reason you shouldn't have what you want to have. If that's already the case, then more power to you. Digging through your son's photos to first find and then expose what I think is a pretty cool photo and then using it to somehow call you out is just insane.

I, for one, as an admirer and as a customer salute your dedication to improving the industry. Keep up the good work. Also, glad your son is ok, that looks like a nasty nasty crash.

[lasersbee]

I can't stand the jealous neighbors that seems to think they are entitled
to intrude in someone's life just because they can't figure it out for themselves.
It's no-ones business what you do or own... Screw them.

I wouldn't have taken the time to explain my private life.
Glad your son is OK.

Jerry

[Pangolin]

I don't have time this morning for a lengthy reply

Hehe, so far you're leading the pack in terms of length of reply ;-)

I've followed this silliness of the past 24 hours

Actually Brad I hadn't "put it together" until just now. Yes, a group admin on Facebook made a similar comment recently. Aaron didn't mention to me (and might have only overheard it around a corner, so might not have known) as to who it was that made the comment. But in fact maybe it's true that it is the same person. I hadn't "put it together" that this particular group admin was indeed at SELEM this year. They're not usually there...

I assumed that perhaps multiple people were thinking the same thing -- that I am a liar who drives (and gives away) Mercedes, and so I wanted to put the topic to bed in both places.

Quite frankly, who gives a rats ass whether you drive a 10 year old Toyota or, swap out for a new Maserati every year.

I agree with your comment, and the similar comment of others. However, it was me who made the statement that Pangolin execs don't drive expensive cars because we put the money back into the business. If I was a liar, then it would be fair game to call me out on it. What's not fair is to *assume* I am a liar based on a picture found in my son's private Facebook pictures. (We'll have to figure out how they even found the pictures -- whether they created a fake Facebook account and then friended my son or what...)

Regrettably it's a price of success

I actually disagree with this. Although I tend toward conservative values -- particularly on fiscal policy I listen to NPR and NPR podcasts quite a lot. There was a story recently where a woman who created a Harry Potter fan-fiction site became the victim of a woman located in New Zealand who was cyber-stalking her and also sending harassing letters to her family located in New York. The woman was eventually able to get restraining orders and police involved and -- upon the second attempt was actually able to get the harassing person put in jail.

Talking shit about me is one thing. It happens from time to time and sometimes I deserve it. And in any case I bear it. No problem. I am a public figure of sorts. But dragging my family into the situation is not okay, and we're actually looking into legal action and restraining orders against the cyber-stalking Facebook admin right now.

One of the most amazing things I have found about this laser community is the overwhelming quality of the majority of people involved but, you naturally find a few bad eggs in every crowd. I've stumbled across a few.

Yes I agree 100%.

William my heart skipped and I went into full parental freak out when I saw the pictures of your son's crash.

Yes, as parents, our hearts skipped as well when we learned about the accident and then had to drive 2 hours to get to the location. Here's a picture of the inside. Notice how absolutely twisted everything is -- including the driver seat. For Will to literally open the car door and walk out with just a few scratches (after the car spun around 3 times and landed backwards in a ditch) was nearly a miracle.



Bill

[Bradfo69]

Hehe, so far you're leading the pack in terms of length of reply ;-)

Thank goodness for Steve! (Hey... it was short for me!)

What's not fair is to *assume* I am a liar based on a picture found in my son's private Facebook pictures.

Agreed. And I didn't fully cover that in my original post.
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Which is also my same feeling regarding :

But dragging my family into the situation is not okay, and we're actually looking into legal action and restraining orders against the cyber-stalking Facebook admin right now.

Yes, as parents, our hearts skipped as well when we learned about the accident and then had to drive 2 hours to get to the location.

Yes, I've been lucky as a parent of a 24 year old to not have had anything like that. I did it to my parents and I can only imagine, when I think back, of what they went through.

[dream beamz]

I for one think that you owe not a single person any kind of explanation. This is ridiculous that you would begin to have to explain yourself. Time to start removing people from personal Facebook pages.

I'm glad your son is ok.

[KANG]

This just goes to show that you don't know someone till you've walked in their shoes.
Thank you for contributing as much as you do to the people around you and furthermore the laser industry.
Good to hear your son is okay.

~Theo