Frosty the Sled Driver?

I had a really good blog post all set for today. Fear, pain, and tears - all the makings of a good post. And then this happened. . .

On my way into work I noticed the driver in front of me had a funny shaped steering wheel so I sped to pass for a closer look. I was on the passenger side as I pulled alongside and saw an elderly gentleman riding shotgun. If I’m guessing, I’d say he was in his 70’s and sat slouched low in his seat with a fedora pulled low over his eyes and if he hadn’t glanced my way I would have said he was sleeping. The woman driving, though, she’s the one that caught my eye. Again, I’m guessing, but she was probably his wife - similar age, similar slouch in her posture with a Betty Crocker hair-do in place of the fedora. Both pretty normal, I’d say, but then there was the matter of the “assistant driver.”

At first glance I wondered if she simply had a decorated steering buddy attached to her wheel. You know, the kind of knob used by professional truck drivers to facilitate big sweeping turns while shifting and doing whatever else it is they do while driving. But this was no steering buddy; rather she gripped in her hand a 6” stuffed snowman. Freestanding and something she could take on the go, maybe pack in her purse, his body was a dingy grey suggesting a long-term tenure in the roll of assistant driver. On his head he even wore a green top hat with a little black hatband wrapping it’s base. Weird.

I wish I’d taken a picture.