Friday, November 20, 2009

Commuter of the Day 11/20/2009

I have a pretty good idea of how this went down. This particular commuter got into his car with his arms full, carrying a Pepsi. He probably put the Pepsi on the roof of his car while he fished out his keys, and put his briefcase, jacket and other items in the back seat. He then got in the front, started his car, and drove off. Forgetting the Pepsi on the roof, of course.

As he drove off, the Pepsi fell over, and rolled around on the roof of his car. Because of his roof rack, it prevented the Pepsi from going off the edge. Instead, the Pepsi merely went back and forth, hitting the rack, and going back in the opposite direction. Due to the low speed limit, there was not enough speed to send the can flying.

One little twist, however. This was my Pepsi. My car. And my commute.

I realized where I had left my Pepsi when I heard a thunk on the roof. I then heard a few more as the Pepsi rolled back and forth, smacking the rack and rolling back to the other side. I even made two turns, and the can continued its back and forth rolling. This was absolutely embarrassing, I couldn't believe that not only I left a soda on my car, but the damn thing wouldn't fall off. I finally made a turn onto a long, straight road which allowed me to get up to a decent speed, and I went from 35 to 50mph pretty quickly. It was at that point I didn't hear any more rolling, and instead, in my rear view mirrow, saw a can of Pepsi flying through the air.

I felt bad about littering. But I felt worse thinking other drivers might have been pointing and laughing at me. And possibly Twittering about it.

9 comments:

  1. SOOOO was there a massive pile up because a can of pepsi went through someones windscreen. eh?

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  2. I've done that. Except it was a quiche...which happened to survive until the first traffic calming hump. I didn't stop either. C'est la vie.

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  3. In someone’s blog, somewhere, there is a camera phone picture of this incident.

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  4. Oops!

    Yep, somewhere there's a pic of your car with that Pepsi can on the roof rack.

    Also, isn't Atlanta Coca-Cola country? You can get fined for possessing Pepsi products down there.

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  5. Ha, that is piss funny!

    I live in constant fear of leaving my laptop on the roof or boot.

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  6. I also put my drink on top of my car when my hands are full, but I am never fearful I will forget it up there. What I am fearful of is that the can will tip and pour all over me as I lean into the back seat to put my computers, books, bags, files, or whatever else I happen to be smuggling into the car.

    I did put a soda can on Heather's tailgate one day and found it still there a couple days later. I was glad that she had not gone anywhere in that time.

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  7. Uamada, I have seen pileups in Atlanta caused by lesser reasons. And funnier reasons (burning cardboard, livestock, overturned pig trucks, etc)

    Natalie, somewhere in Brisbane, a homeless person ate well that day. Or poorly. I've never had your quiche, so I wouldn't know. ;)

    Yobbo....Partial Credit? I did this in Atlanta, as YD pointed out. The home of Coke. I'm lucky that can wasn't shot off the roof of my car by some redneck working at their bottling plant.

    Simon/YD, I hope that photo is on Google Street View!

    Andi, I know, but when I do screw up, I will be the first to admit it.

    Naut, until they were old enough to alert me with noise, I used to check 4-5 times before pulling out of a space to ensure my kids were buckled in in the back seat. Just to be safe.

    Ian, I'm never fearful either. As long as it's not anything valuable.

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