The Wild and Wonderful Carpool--"In the beginning"

The Wild and Wonderful Carpool

Written By: Stinkin’ Lincoln the indestructible Stink Bug and windshield ornament

Pardon my ‘Frankness’ (*a little company humor), but carpooling..well, it’s essential in these times of whoa…and I mean ‘$80-bucks-a-gallon-whoah’! The economy, it ain’t kiddin’. It’s time to start going green, and saving some green by jumping on the sustainability bandwagon!

Doubters, beware! Lazy bums, you also need-be very aware. They’re coming for you!

Wild, wonderful…um…wacky, and uh…sometimes really, really weird—four commuter employees and my stinky-little-self, hit the road every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on a down-right adventure, a.k.a. the ride in to work.

Destination: Manassas!  Round Trip Travel Time: 2 hours, 40 minutes!  Gas Consumption: Eeeek!

Meet Mike….From Martinsburg, WV, Mike is the Student Affairs Liaison in the Office of Student and Alumni Affairs. Mike commutes to Manassas at least three times a week and relies heavily on a carpool system to save money to support his family of five—one in route. To the carpool, Mike brings a knowledge of all things unimportant and random, a keen eye for spotting red foxes in “Hunt Country”, a ton of laughter, and a thirst for innovation--of course near-and-dear to his sweet-little-heart, sustainability!

Meet Charissa…From Wardensville, WV, Charissa, Academic Development Advisor in Advising, not only carpools into Manassas, but also carpools from her home to the commuter lot with her husband Shawn. Charissa carpools three days each week into Manassas and contributes Nascar’esque driving techniques in the “Oldsmobile Blue Devil” (Duke-inspired, of course!), fine dining expertise, tips for lowering your cholesterol: the anti-shrimp prophesy, and funny, funny jokes.

Meet “Hotdog”…Also from Martinsburg, Alex “Alacay the Hostile Hotdog”, one of our brilliant Student Advisors and also a 3-dayer in the carpool, likes to ride shotgun, make homemade beef jerky, and occasionally snooze-and-snore. Don’t let those cool sunglasses fool you, he might look like he’s listening, but Alacay is King of the Shut-eye—Mr. Slick.  Alex is ultra cool, an easy-going red-headed guy, who is along for the ride—even when it gets wild—or wonderful, either way. 

Nicknamed “Alacay” after the Lion in Madagascar 2, “Hotdog” by his nephew, and “Hostile” after yelling profanity in traffic on 66, Alex has grown mighty fond of his nickname and prefers that all his co-workers refer to him as “Alacay the Hostile Hotdog” from now on.

Meet Amanda--Monster Energy and beef jerky junkie, Student and Alumni Affairs Team Lead, and early morning enthusiast. It took a minute for Amanda to jump on the carpool bandwagon because A. She didn’t really know the people riding along, and B.) Well, because her mornings are slightly irregular. Amanda springs to life around 3:30am, works out at the gym, pounds a Monster Energy and dances her way to work. Even though I’m a stink bug and my brain is almost non-existent, I wasn’t exactly sure Charissa, the Hotdog, or even Mike could even handle it—but in a desperate effort to remain financially stable (*cough), tail between her legs, Amanda entered the carpool ready to share early morning bliss with her new friends.

The journey began a very promising Monday morning in Boyce, Virginia—the sun peaked ever-so-slightly over the top of Mount Weather and on a random grassy hilltop, five deer (including, according to Mike, one albino) stood like statues in the morning air. Whimsically, four very ambitious and hard-working masterminds assembled for their very first ride.  

Luckily enough for the passengers, day one was Amanda’s for the taking. She prepped with a most exciting and perhaps, just perhaps, insurmountable surprise for those in tow.

The Car Pool Hot Mix featured African bongo beats, the polka chicken dance, Rhinestone Cowboy, Ricky-Skaggs-and-Jimmy-Martin-bluegrass, Shake a’Tailfeather, and many other uplifting, let’s-get-er-done tracks. The carpool was off to an exhilarating start, with wings flapping, accordions rockin’, and gut busters right-and-left.

We all fell in love.

“Honey, how was your days” on the ride home, provided adequate and spirited closure to the day, ending on a sweet little note.

Day 1: Success.

The End.

(No, but seriously, the Car Pool Hot Mix was really awesome!)