Slugbug

When we were kids, we used to play a game where whenever you saw a Volkswagen Beetle, you would cry “Slugbug” and punch the person closest to you, ideally, your brother or sister. When some big kid, say a fifth grader like Brad Harrison was the one who was doing the punching, it could hurt a lot, so you came to fear the Beetle like no other car or make sure you saw any first so you could get your own punch in first, however feeble.

This game apparently has a life of its own, for kids today, specifically Mimi, still play it, albeit with a few modifications befitting the somewhat less vicious, but probably more complex world that youngsters today live in. In her version of the game, “Slugbug” is still called out, but then you get to throw a punch at ideally, your dad, ideally when he is at the front of the tandem and you are at the rear. Consequently, these days, I still fear the appearance of the Volkswagen Beetle, both the old style ones that gave rise to the fisticuffs of my youth and the new Beetles that abound on the streets of Seattle.

A few new wrinkles have emerged in the game, though, since the time I was playing it back in the proverbial day. For one thing, another modern small car (also based on a design I grew up with), the Mini Cooper gives rise to physical pestering, specifically, the so-called “mini-pinch.” Seeing a Mini Cooper allows you to take the flesh of another, again, ideally your dad on the tandem, between two steely little fingers and squeeze.

And then, the if you see a Scion xB, you get to cry “Boxy Boxy” and give the old one-two to your old man’s kidneys. (I don’t mind this one; it’s usually more like a rolling massage than punching; so it’s too bad Scion has changed their design to be less boxy.)