Skip to main content

Los Angeles 2016: Air Freshener

A while back, the Mild Girlfriend and I took a quick road trip to Los Angeles. Neither of us heads down that way all that often, but she had to be down there. Originally, she was going to carpool with some other friends. However, they backed out, and she didn't want to do the drive by herself. So, we decided to make a road trip of it.

Now, as we drove down to get to our destination, we inevitably made stops along the way. We had to eat and we had to use the restroom, after all. Sometimes, the two of those things lined up in a convenient mix, and we'd have a full blown restaurant of some sort at our disposal. Sometimes, though, nature's call was too strong, and we had to make a stop for the sole purpose of going to the bathroom. In those cases, gas stations and convenience stores were incredibly helpful.

Most of the employees at those stores know you're only there to use the restroom, and they don't care. Still, though, I sometimes felt bad or awkward just standing there. So, I'd often buy some gum or other snacks for the trip. After a while, we had quite the collection of snacks in the car. We ate most of the snacks at a fairly steady clip, but we just couldn't keep up with the gum. Each pack we bought had something like twelve pieces in it, and we simply didn't chew enough gum to keep up. Even if we doubled up, it'd still take us several hours to get through the pack, and we made pit stops more often than that.

So, we ended up with a fairly large gum collection near the front seat. We really didn't think too much of it. It was a road trip, after all. It's sort of expected that you'll end up with snacks or other junk food at some point. And heck, it was kind of fun. We could choose from several flavors whenever the desire for gum struck us. It was all in good fun.

At one point near the end of the trip, though, we gave one of the Mild Girlfriend's friends a ride. She got in the car, and comedic gold struck:

Friend: "Oh, that smells nice. What kind of air freshener is that?"
Mild Girlfriend: "Air freshener?"
Friend: "Yeah, it smells like ... chamomile?"
Mild Girlfriend: "Chamomile? Oh! That's Juicy Fruit gum."

Yup, the gum collection doubled as air freshener. What was even funnier was that Juicy Fruit wasn't even the nice gum. We just bought it because it reminded us of childhood, and we got nostalgic. It's the kind of gum that tastes a little sugary. But apparently, it smells like chamomile. So if you're ever in a pinch, I know a cheap, sure-fire way to make your car smell nice.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Nicknames Again

In a post from a while back , I mentioned that people around me end up with nicknames fairly frequently. It's not always my doing, but I am more than happy to play along. Of course, the best part isn't the actual nickname, it's always the back story that leads to the nickname. And since it's been a while since that previous post, I've picked up a few more stories about nicknames that are worth a chuckle. So, without further ado, I present to you: "ADT" You know how people pay for security systems for their houses? One of the most well-known companies is called ADT . My brother likes to say that he has no need for said security systems because one of his neighbors is constantly on the lookout for what's going on in the neighborhood. She's like a one-person neighborhood watch, complete with a side of the neighborhood gossip. He has actually come home and had her tell him about the comings and goings of his wife. My brother's smart aleck str...

All Good Things ...

August 8, 2009. Over twelve years ago, I started blogging with this simple post . I didn't really have a great reason for starting the blog, other than I wanted to try it out. I wanted to try writing and putting it where others could read it. I don't know, it just seemed like a new adventure to try. Along the way, there have been all sorts of posts and all sorts of life events, but through it all, I kept writing. It just became a part of what I do at some point. It wasn't a matter of whether I was going to write a blog post, it was a matter of when. The Mild Wife has described it as a "writing practice," and it was one of the reasons why I kept writing. Honestly, it's good practice, and it gives me an opportunity to hone my craft. I'm no professional author, but we all have to write stuff in our everyday lives. Why not give yourself reps to get better at it? However, I think it's time for that practice to change. My weekly anecdotes sure kept me amused...

Combinations

Unfortunately, this pandemic seems to be drawing out even farther. I'd started to think that we might be getting over the hump, but the number of cases keep rising and there are new variants that seem to be causing concern all over again. I'm not predicting doom and gloom, but let's just say that I'm not surprised that some counties are starting to issue lockdown and mask rules again. Ultimately, that means that the Mild Wife and I have to ensure our mask game is on point again. We still have a few from the initial bout of sewing  but it's sure looking like we're going to need masks in the near future. Given that, I figured I might as well start making a few more. Of course, I've got a few more reps under my belt now, so I can start to think more about how we want the finished product to look rather than the mechanics of whether or not I threaded the machine properly. The latest sewing blog post happened to be about masks, and it was from a few weeks ago, s...