Person of the Year

I just saw the over of Time Magazine. The cover story is the Person of the Year, which is pretty much everyone this year. Specifically, it seems to be about everyone that contributed to the Web. I find a certain irony in being named Person of the Year.

Groucho Marx once said something to the effect of "I wouldn't want to be a part of any club that would have me as a member." From what I understand, the actual quote is much longer, but I still find myself thinking along the same lines. How the heck did I get to be Person of the Year?

It seems like a bit of a cop out to me. Time’s managing editor, Richard Stengel, even admitted as much. He said that he didn’t feel the need to justify the decision. (Note the second paragraph in this article. That still doesn’t answer why, really.

The thing I’m left to wonder is how many people are going to put this in their résumés. I know that someone is going to go in for a job and say (quite honestly) that they were named Time’s 2006 Person of the Year. How many people are going to talk to someone on the phone and, when the person at the other end says something they don’t like, will say, “Hey! This is the Person of the Year you’re talking to!”

I’m not trying to detract from the honor. I’m just trying to figure out how to get a handle on it. Is this for real? Can I actually tell people that I’m really the Person of the Year? Could I seriously put it on my résumé and get away with it? I’m actually tempted to try.