Casting Croutons

Imagine croutons as the important, who's who names that people often toss about. These people often believe it's "who you know," rather than "what you know," that gets you in the door or keeps you in the game. I guess they are the proprietors of cronyism basically. I find humor in people like this, especially when over the course of time the listener realizes that it's the same four or five names that that person keeps bandying about. Also, the names are ones that the crouton-tosser rarely knows in depth, has read extensively, or understands etc. The problem with this is that they continue to sound impressive to most people they meet because of the name tossing. It's only those of us who are around these folks more often that realize what their game is. Have you ever run into anyone like this? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy croutons as much as the next person, but a salad made solely of croutons lacks, shall we say, fiber? substance? Croutons should be a compliment to the salad, working in tandem with the other ingredients, not the sole flavor. Croutons have a tough time masking the lack of other ingredients.