Right in the heat of evening rush hour tonight, I was driving down my town’s major 4-lane thoroughfare toward the kids’ preschool. Traffic was thick but moving along at a decent clip.
Near the crest of a hill, I came to a stop behind about 20 cars that were waiting through a red light. The left lane started moving before mine did, but I didn’t think anything of it until, as I crept forward, I realized that a newer model, black BMW 6 or 7 cars ahead of me in the right lane was stopped with the driver’s side door ajar and the trunk open. Yes, the trunk, not the hood. No hazard lights, but I figured that if the car had just broken down, the driver might not have gotten around to that yet.
As I inched closer to the BMW, the driver – a very put-together-looking guy with a not-icky ponytail – emerged from the car and walked to the very full trunk where he rummaged around a little. Then he got back in the car. I assumed his next step would be either (1) to close the driver side door or (2) to turn on the hazards. Nope! Mr. BMW got back out and rummaged around in the trunk again.
By this time, traffic in the left lane had slowed, so I managed to move over and continue forward. As I passed the BMW, the driver closed his trunk, glanced at me, and got back into his car. I looked in my rearview mirror a moment later only to see Mr. BMW close his driver’s side door… whereupon he turned on the car, lit up the headlights and drove away. Seriously.
To summarize, Mr. BMW determined that, in the middle of rush hour traffic, in the right lane of a major 4-lane road, he needed to adjust something in his trunk so desperately he couldn’t wait to pull into a parking lot or side street. This got me wondering… what could have been that important?
I believe I’ve figured it out. The way I see it, Mr. BMW had a Mogwai in the trunk. Not only that, it was a Mogwai from New Zealand. It totally makes sense! Think about it. When I headed out to get my kids, it was approaching 6:00pm Eastern Time, at which time it was approaching midnight in New Zealand. As we all know, Mogwais have to be prevented from eating after midnight. IF this Mogwai had just arrived in the U.S. today and therefore was still technically on New Zealand time, and IF Mr. BMW realized he had food in his trunk, it would have been imperative to get that food away from the Mogwai post-haste! Otherwise, he would have had Gremlins afoot, and we all know how that would have turned out.
I think we all owe Mr. BMW a huge thank-you for his quick thinking and selfless act. Next time you see someone stalled in traffic, take a moment and think before you get frustrated and make snap judgments. The driver could be saving you, too, from the perils of a hungry, jet-lagged Mogwai.
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