GC and I always play Punch Buggy when we’re out and about. You may have played some variation of Punch Buggy in childhood, but we’ve developed a more sophisticated and elaborate version for grown-ups.
Here’s how it works.
If you see a volkswagen bug, you punch the other person and shout “Punch Buggy!”
If you see a yellow car, you punch the other person and shout “Bananarama!”
If you see a Smart Car, you punch the other person and shout “Smartypants!”
And if you see a faux wood-paneled car, you punch the other person and shout “Woody!”
If you are sharp-eyed enough to spot all FOUR of these things before the other person sees even ONE of their own, you score a Grand Slam and you become the Punch Buggy Grand Master Poobah and there are fireworks and prizes and the other person has to be your slave and do your bidding for 24 hours and give you $30.
A Grand Slam is a theoretically possible but unlikely event.
One reason it’s unlikely is because woodies are very, very rare. In fact, in all the months we’ve been playing this game, we’ve never seen a woody. Until now. On Boxing Day we were driving through Chinatown, and there, parked on the side of Nanny Goat Hill, was a faux wood-paneled station wagon. I could hardly believe my eyes. I rubbed them. I blinked. I double-checked. There was no question. It was a genuine woody. And GC hadn’t seen it.
“WOODY!” I screamed. I was so excited I almost forgot to punch him. (Honestly, if we ever get into a car accident, it will probably be a result of all this pummeling and screaming that goes on inside the car.)
GC couldn’t believe it either. We were both in awe. We pulled over at Raw Sugar to drink coffee and calm ourselves down. Then we got back on the road. We were both in hyper-vigilant mode.
I would love to be able to tell you that this story culminated in a Grand Slam for me, but it was not to be. I spotted a Punch Buggy moments later, but GC got a Bananarama before I could find a Smartypants.
Tell them how you sometimes dream about punch buggies and woodies and then punch me in your sleep. I still say those shouldn’t count.
It was only once!
When my kids were small we played “hug bug” after I got punched one too many times. Involves yelling “hug bug” when you see a VW Beetle, then hugging everyone around you. There’s no “no hug back” rule. Still not completely safe while driving, but much more friendly.
“We pulled over at Raw Sugar to drink coffee and calm ourselves down.”
So, like, um…how does coffee (with or without sugar) calm you down? I thought the caffeine in coffee was a stimulant.
It’s like when somebody says, “I gotta relax; I need a coffee and cigarette.”
How does that work, exactly? Am I missing something?
DH, his daughters and I play punch-buggy incessantly. We’ve eliminated the actual physical content of the game, as the girls, 12 and 13, get overly vicious just because they can. However, at the end of every outing, the score is tallied and a winner declared. 95% of the time, it’s my husband. I’ll never know how he can drive and yet remain hyper-vigilant for punch-buggies at the same time.
I was going to say I grew up in a woody, but that just sounds so wrong on so many levels. So, we had one of those when I was a child and I thought they had gone extinct. After all, that was much longer ago than the average life span of a car, wood or otherwise. It’s amazing you still see any at all.
1. I think to make the game more fun, only original VW bugs should count. The new ones aren’t real punch buggies.
2. GC: Maybe Zoom isn’t dreaming when she spots woodies while you’re sleeping. And maybe she’s not punching you so much as trying to wake you up?
XUP: 1. If only original VW bugs counted, the game would soon fizzle out as the car becomes extinct.
2. It’s been too quiet while you were on vacation. Welcome back!
Thanks GC. I don’t think the real VW Beetles will ever become extinct. They’re built to last forever. Didn’t you see Sleeper (speaking of Woodys)
Megabytes, we love your Hug Bug idea, but it’s hard to hug and drive.
Tom – coffee doesn’t affect me the way it affects most people. I often have a cup at bedtime. And yeah, back when I smoked, I used to have a coffee and a smoke to relax. Also to wake up. Also to procrastinate. And to punctuate the day.
Susan, I think drivers have an advantage in Punch Buggy, because they’re always looking further down the road than the rest of us.
Melinda, there are the original woodys (up to the 50s, I think) and the renaissance woodys (70s and 80s). Apparently there are more of them in California than anywhere else.
XUP – There have been entire dissertations written on exactly the subject of whether modern VW bugs should count in Punch Buggy. A few purists think as you do, but the more realistic gamers say a vintage-only rule would sooner or later cause the game to die out. (I grew up in VW bugs by the way. They might have been built to last, but whoever designed them had never experienced a Canadian winter.)
How correct you are on where all the Woody’s hide out! Most of the restored/maintained ones tend to live in Southern California. I saw many while in Huntington Beach and many of the small surf communities/beaches.
I loved the style, it truly was a piece of machinery that almost looked nice enough to park in the living room. I like them so much, that while at an art show in Laguna Beach (Pageant of the Masters) I picked up a print of a group of surfers unloading boards from a Woody.
The original Woody’s are one of the few beautiful pieces of automotive history that came from north america. For those that want to check out a cross between a Woody, a Punch Buggy, and an eco-alternative – that’s coming out of Europe/Canada, I recommend you take a look at http://www.verdier.ca
Cheers,
TW!
My kids play it with a “no punch back” at the end, although they didn’t originate it. I like that part, so the punch-buggy game doesn’t become an excuse for open warfare in the car.
Happy new year!
Holy smokes! I just saw a VW Beetle with fake wood-panelling. Couldn’t help but think of your blog.
Norma – ooooh! I wish I’d seen that. Was it in Ottawa?