The Nice Thing About Strangers
Creative Non-Fiction Short Stories. :) Travel, Oldsters, Love, and Compassion.
Red Light
Stopped in traffic, I may or may not be listening to 80s music and dancing in my seat. (Okay, I am.) I glance around for witnesses and find a bulldog in the truck on my left. The driver is on the phone, but the dog has spied me. He struggles to peer out of the window, which is is just above eye-level. He’s straining to watch me wiggle with “Take On Me.” He’s also fogging up the window with his dog breath, thus making it harder to inspect his neighbor.
In my rearview mirror, I see a woman with white hair piled up onto the top of her head. It’s not a beehive precisely, but it is an homage to one. She is staring ahead very seriously, very stoically, but an image to her left makes me laugh aloud. Next to the grave woman, Betty Boop winks from a seat cover on her passenger side. So the solemn expression from the woman is undermined by her hair, her comic companion, and her seriousness seems part of the joke as well. As I roll forward, I take one more look at the steamy dog and Betty Boop–having far too much fun to be stuck in traffic.
–USA
The Nice Thing About Strangers 
Another gripping post
I am a singer in the car type too. I really don’t care if anyone sees me or not, it is just a fun release! Every once in a while I will catch the eye of someone who pulls up alongside me, and get a grin or an occasional odd stare. One guy started “bopping” along too! When I was younger, I was so self-conscious, I never would have thought of singing in the car, but maybe it is just part of aging that it is not such a big deal now. I spend a lot of time driving back and forth to work and sitting at lights, what else is better to do? š
It’s true! I’m also ceasing to care. The car is the only safe place for me to sing and not harm anyone. š
Paige
My favourite bit is the dog’s frustration at fogging up the window while he’s trying to look at you. [grin]
š Such a funny dog!