There are a lot of "measuring sticks"  walking around. When you do something "abnormal" or shocking to them, they start to ask questions.

How many have you sold?
What was your time?
What place did you take?
How many downloads?
How many people showed up?

They just want to see how you "size up" , but rarely does a "measuring stick" do anything but assess and compare having never done anything of significance themselves.