Wednesday, June 13, 2007

One Van's Trash is Another Van's Treasure

Remember when you were a kid and one of the great exchanges of life was getting to ride in someone else's car? Why my niece wanted to slum it in our mini van instead of her perfectly CLEAN, odor-free car, is an adolescent mystery. Not to be swayed by logic, the two eight year old cousins delightedly tumble into the van, plop into the seats and continue their conversation about American Girls, mac and cheese and older sisters.

A few minutes later a squeaky voice from the back seat yells, "Eeewww! Half a sandwich!"

Before I could apologize for the food receptacle and offer a friendly but accurate warning about whatever else might be back there, I hear my daughter ask a matter of fact question: "What, you don't like peanut butter and jelly?"

She apparently didn't realize that most families don't keep leftovers in the seat cracks. Her instinct was to find out WHY Maddie doesn't like the all-American favorite PB&J. It evidently didn't occur to her that having a half eaten sandwich on the floor of the van qualifies as squalor.

Sadly, it is that bad.

Epilogue: Just to prove my point--As I got out of the van today, I looked down at the floor between the two front seats. Right there in broad daylight is a shiny and distinguishable lock of human hair. (HAIR??!?) Blond. Perfectly cut, although there are no scissors in the car, evidence the crime had been committed at a second location. One mustn't ask the obvious question in these situations: "Who cut their hair? "Why is it in the car?" No, the PB&J question here is: "Why haven't I noticed someone missing a chunk of hair?"

No comments: