Since it's summer, the prime season for family road trips, I got to thinking the other day of one of my all time favorite car games as a child: Sweet and Sour.
If you've never heard of this it might be because my older sister and her friends (who taught me the game) probably made it up. And of course being the younger one of the clan I was eager to learn, and play along with the older "cool kids." Little did I know what we were doing was self humiliating and usually ended in me laughing so hard I'd pee my pants. Not cool.
You see, "sweet and sour" was all about getting a rise of out somebody in the car in the other lane. There wasn't a point system (that I remember anyway) and there were no teams. The game was purely entertainment. You'd basically gawk and make crazy faces or motions with your body to get people's attention. This alone usually caused uncontrollable bouts of giggles. But what really made you pee your pants was the reaction from people that didn't know what the heck was going on. Occasionally you'd get the boring people who didn't even look, or when they did would just nod and keep driving. But our favorite were the people who looked at us like we were crazy, stared and looked confused, or scrunched up their face and scowled. Some people were sweet, others were sour. It was ridiculous. It was random. It made no sense. But it was hilarious and helped the time pass.
So this spring when Chad and I were on our way back from the Grand Canyon (tired and somewhat delirious) we saw this:
BAHAHAHAH!
So, Chad looked at me from behind the steering wheel with his game on face and was like, "get your camera ready I'm turning around." And of course just like I was six again I giggled like a little girl as I stuck half of my body out the car window with anxious anticipation of the masked goofball I was about to go all paparazzi on. I couldn't wait for his reaction as we came flying by on the open highway for the second time.
And the third:
I guess, unknowingly, we were playing a grown-up version of sweet and sour the whole time and didn't even know it. We didn't keep score, or take sides, and even though there was hysterical laughter I'm pretty sure no one wet their pants. But the reaction and entertainment was priceless. And in my opinion, if you wear a burglar mask and camo fanny pack down the highway on your road bike, you're just asking for it.
p.s.
I hope this wasn't one of those "you had to be there" stories because I just laughed so hard I was crying as I relived the experience. Happy weekend everyone! And fun travels!
