Who doesn't like Shark Week? You know, the week-long series on the Discovery Channel that basically shows what sharks do best: hunt and eat.
I love sharks, much for the same reason I like rollercoasters: they scare the heck out of me and remind me that I'm alive. I've gone to bed many a night thinking, "While I'm drifting off to slumber, some 20-foot eating machine is prowling the depths of the ocean looking for a midnight snack." Even at the municipal pool in the summer, I'm often compelled to thrash toward the edge by the thought of a snaggle-toothed mako lurking somewhere beneath my feet. I know, I need therapy.
I think my (and many others') fascination with sharks began after viewing the blockbuster movie, "Jaws." I was only five years old at the time it hit the theaters, and I was one of the millions of people who, after seeing the flick, were scared to go more than ankle-deep in the water. In fact, my parents still have a photo of me from a vacation to Tampa Bay, Fla., that documents my fear: it's a panoramic shot taken far back from the surf line, so I'm no taller than a grain of rice. All you see is the arching blue sky, an expanse of white sand and a little boy in red swim trunks staring nervously down at his feet...no doubt hearing the haunting "duh-duh – duh-duh – duh-duh" Jaws theme song.
After that, relatives knew that anything shark-related – books, rubber toys, jewelry with teeth (and sometimes the whole jaws), stuffed animals – were perfect birthday and Christmas presents for me.
Naturally, then, when Shark Week rolls around, I'm glued to the TV. Last year, I was watching it late one night when I saw some incredible footage of some researchers racing their boat alongside a Great White that was chasing a seal. Right off, I couldn't help but think of the shark as the insurance industry and the seal as the body shops, not from the standpoint that the insurance industry wants to swallow the collision repair industry whole, but more of the mismatch between the two entities. The seal was so clearly overmatched, and while it was doing a good job of evading the shark, twisting and turning and occasionally eluding the shark's jaws by acrobatically leaping out of the water, you knew it just delaying the inevitable and would eventually get chomped. And then one of the researchers made an interesting comment:
"You can't help but root for the seal because he's so clearly overmatched."
So take heart, repairers, the world is on your side. And your recent legislative and other pushback efforts are showing that you have more teeth than some folks believe...