I used to have a copy of a DOONESBURY comic strip from the early 1980s. It had five frames:
- The back of the bird character.
- The bird looking to the left.
- The bird looking to the right.
- The bird flapping its wings wildly.
- The back of the bird character.
The caption: There are those who live for quiet moments of wild abandon.
Just thinking about it still makes me giggle.
When I was single, my quiet moments of wild abandon would occur in my solitary flat. Ah, the luxury of solitude.
People on the street or in the grocery store now bear witness to my not-so-quiet moments of wild abandon. You see, I tend to be “alone” just a few minutes a day, either when I’m driving to work or running an errand on the way back home to meet the six-year-old’s school bus. As I wind my way through car or people traffic, I tend to speed like a demon and curse like a pirate.
And, apparently, I’m not even alone in these endeavors! Our friend John, during one of his visits in Milwaukee, once commented upon the mommy-van onslaught in the Trader Joe’s parking lot. He spoke in jest, but I believe he was quite shaken by the whole experience. I, of course, had a maniacal guffaw: women might still make $0.76 to every $1.00 that a man makes, but mommies and their vans rule grocery store parking lots.
My car needs a bumper sticker: Beware of wives and mothers behind the wheels of six-cylinder minivans. Beware!
Or maybe I can dig up that DOONESBURY comic strip, laminate it, and afix it to my rear bumper.
