One of the wonderful quirks of the Internet is that it’s a perfect delivery vehicle for news of totally silly events. If you’re having a bad day, week, month, or year, just tune in to fun news, laugh a little, and enjoy yourself. Our readers make a story even more amusing with their comments.
Brian wrote about how a guy driving a flaming sweet potato truck drove it straight to the firehouse. Sid Bridge:
I guess the driver was a little confused since hot potatoes are the ones you pass away really quickly, whereas sweet potatoes are the ones you typically present as french fries for hipsters.
Easy mistake.
The Stig’s Misanthropic Cousin:
I’m skeptical of the driver’s story. Yes, driving a flaming truck to a fire station is boneheaded. But it seems less boneheaded than admitting you drove a flaming truck several miles because you kept seeing a fire in your rearview mirrors and wanted to get away from it.
Freddy Bartholomew:
Love me some fire-roasted sweet potatoes!
The truck driver was just being polite. He didn’t want to trouble the fire department.
Matt wrote a Morning Dump about the fall of some EV registrations and gas prices. TheDrunkenWrench:
All of this started because I decided to buy an Excursion to replace my Sorento. So, sorry everyone.
Finally, Kevin Rhodes tells a story in Jason’s Cold Start that’ll make you appreciate modern safety advances:
Back in the day before doors with “kiddy locks” (and seat belt usage) were a thing, people actually LIKED 2-door cars for hauling sprogs around in. The kiddos were never strapped in, so were roaming free, and thus could easily open a door and remove themselves from the gene pool. And because kids were just tossed back there, there was no concern about ease of access to buckle the little dumplings into giant safety capsules.
I had neighbors back then whose 5yo kid did exactly that. Opened the back door of the family truckster and fell out. The parents were deaf and so had no idea for a while that kiddo was missing! Thankfully, she survived as the car was only going 25mph or so down our street. I was in Jr High when that happened, so probably circa 1981.
It’s one of the reasons “personal luxury coupes” were such humongous sellers in the US back in the day. Nobody cared about how easy it was to get kids in and out of them. My parents certain did not give a single thought to my or my brother’s comfort in the back of their cars (Grand Prix or 911 during my formative years), we were lucky to be getting taken anywhere to start with. My grandparents always had huge boat station wagons then though, the Old Man was a boater, so needed to tow dingies and carry gear back-and-forth to the boat. And all of us cousins and friends of cousins in the way back playpen on occasion. Being a cheap Yankee, he never stumped up for the Plywood Pleasure Palace fancy versions. Just plain sides, sticky vinyl, an AM radio and no A/C. Usually Mopar.
4 door sedans were considered more formal and better suited to hauling adults around. Though that said, I too find it odd that VW didn’t make the wagon both ways – no good reason not to that I can see. Probably figured it would end up costing too much vs. the 2dr wagon.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Top graphic image: YouTube / FNNプライムオンライン
so am I the only one curious about the “ah, so” and the convenient Japanese pic?
I remember in maybe 1974, driving from Mass to Kansas with my 4-5 month old sister in a bassinet between the rear seats, separating my sister in my mother 1967 dodge dart.
And yes maybe 4years later, my brother opened the read door on the dart, and my mother reaching over the front bench seat to grab him and pull him back in the car.
I had an experience like this in a Ranger in the mid 90’s I believe. My mom was driving me to the bus stop in our neighborhood so I wasn’t strapped in and leaning on the door. She took a left and the door just swung open, dumping my body that was still at the bounce stage compared to just breaking, right in the middle of the street. Fun times and good laughs, at least to me
But you have a Great Story to tell your kids. “in my day, we were able to fall out of cars and we’d be fine…”
Without a doubt. No harm, no foul
“All of this started because I decided to buy an Excursion to replace my Sorento. So, sorry everyone.”
Huh. And I thought it was my fault for buying a car that runs on premium.
Born in ’74, one of my childhood experiences was seeing the grownups in my large extended family replace floofy Brougham personal-luxury boaty cars, one by one, with Rabbit-clone econoboxes, and the huge improvement in visibility and reduction in carsick-inducing potential.
Kevin is right. We kids of Boomers really understood how much of a pain in the ass we were, asking to go places or be included in our parents lives. Or at least considered between cigarettes and refills of liquor.
That’s how you build character. Along with not seeing your parents until the weekend because they were working and you had to take care of yourself.
Gen X here, my parents were honestly wonderful. We had the freedom to explore and do as we wished, but they also always kept us involved. Dad was actively involved in my Scout Troop and Little League. Mom always included us in cooking/ baking etc as much as we wanted. As little ones she took us to the local pool and library 2 days a week during the summer until we could bike over on our own. We made weekend yard work a family event, same with over winter remodelling. I was always up in dad’s business anytime a car or mower needed serviced. I learned so much from both of them.
This was not my Gen X experience.
We have done our best to not repeat it for our own kods and be more like you describe
Fellow Gen-Xer here. My experience was fortunately very similar to yours. My cooking and mechanical abilities I learned from my parents while growing up landed me an amazing life partner (28 years and counting)!
I’m glad my suffering can at least bring entertainment to the masses! Thanks Mercedes!