Name dropping

I Google the Art of Name Dropping and found many interesting articles, one of which is by Leila Mahfooz on 15 Nov 2009. She says name dropping is ' one of the best social skills available but one must proceed with caution.' I know what name dropping is but didn't know it's an art in doing it. Subtlety, she says, is the first principle of effective name dropping. Contacts with famous people are an asset. I have been out of social circle for so long that I am not able to relate to this. But one prominent incident came to mind.
A neighbour took so much pain to explain to me who her daughter is married to. She married at a late age (40) to a man much older than her. She mentioned that the son-in-law's sister is Tan Sri so and so who is the head of so and so company, whose brother is Dato' ...... , his uncle is a ...... and so on and so on. She asked me whether I know all those people whom she mentioned and I said 'No, none'. Honestly, I really don't know. Her surprised look seemed to indicate that I am so ignorant, 'Oh, you don't know his sister, Tan Sri...... always come out in newspaper, she is very well-known.' etc, etc. She made me feel stupid but am I stupid for not recognizing some titled people she mentioned? In God's name, I wasn't in the least interested who those people are and who her daughter is married to. I never asked nor bothered to find out. It's just none of my business.
Unfortunately I happened to see her that day and stopped to say hello. Then the story began.
What irked me most is the insinuation that I am not well-informed. I was polite enough not to tell her that I was not in the least interested.
What's going with this game of name dropping? I wonder why some people do it and for what purpose. I suspect name dropping, especially about influential and titled people, makes the person feel important and superior.
Leila Mahfooz said, 'If used imprudently, name dropping can turn into something similar to compulsive lying.' Time is most important. If you indulge in name dropping, wait for the right moment. I guess a lot of people use name dropping when they want something, such as 'Oh the Minister of ........ is my old classmate, he can help me to get this done.' I remember when I was working in Ministry of Education, many people name dropped when they want a favour. Thank God, I wasn't impressed then and definitely not now.
Another acquaintance has a habit of bragging about all her titled friends eg. the Datins, the Datos, the Puan Sris etc. Being involved in politics, I guess, open this door for her. I didn't really realize that was name dropping and how important titled people are to her until recently. We were on a group trip where we have an old close friend with us. Her new friend, a Puan Sri was also in this trip whom she befriended through her political involvement. It happened this Puan Sri and our old close friend felt sick one day. When she learned this, without pausing a moment, she grabbed hold a bunch of medicine and ran up the stairs to see the Puan Sri but never even bothered to look up our old friend who stayed just a few doors away. I was shocked. That was quite a personality revealing to me.
So, if you want to name drop, do it gracefully with an art. But ask yourself, do you need to hide behind the back of someone else to make you feel good?
If name dropping was a medicine, the package would certainly carry warning label "Use with caution. DO NOT overdose." (L. Mahfooz, 2009). For furtrher reading on name dropping, look at hubpages.com "What's in the Name" by Sue Adams.