Having merely brushed against celebrities substitutes for genuine industry connection

Evidence

Name droppery is always the final desperate attempt to get ahead in show business. I’m sure you’ve heard the old adage, “It’s not what you know. It’s who you know.” I have worked for, sold to, waited on, been tipped by, catered for, slept with, swam in the same pool with, acted with, studied acting with, played a part or extra in their films, brushed up against, or locked eyes from across a crowded room with so many of the big fish in Hollywood. — Dolores DeLuce, Blow Jobs, 315

Categorization

• SEED: An essay on the celebrity-adjacency economy: the long list of verbs (waited on, been tipped by, locked eyes) maps a whole informal labor hierarchy of proximity to fame.
• APHORISMS: “Name droppery is always the final desperate attempt to get ahead” reads as hard-won career advice about what proximity to power actually buys.