Man, what a wasted Sunday this turned into. Me and three buddies got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic heading back from Jake’s lake house for like, over two freakin’ hours. The radio stations kept playing garbage, everyone’s phone batteries were dying… total boredom apocalypse. That’s when Sarah yelled, “We gotta do something or I’m jumping out!” So we started trying stuff, live experiment in the car.
The Setup & First Failures
First, someone suggested “I Spy.” Classic, right? Nope. Lasted maybe two minutes. Greg picked “something gray” – turned out to be every other car on the stupid highway. We all groaned. Epic fail. Then Billy tried telling a long, rambling story about his uncle’s barn. Zoned out halfway through. Couldn’t remember any good car games off the top of our heads.
What Actually Worked (Surprisingly!)
Got desperate. Tried yelling ridiculous questions at passing cars. “What’s your favorite kind of pizza?!” Mostly got confused stares or middle fingers. Not exactly productive. Then it hit us:
- 20 Questions Tournament: Started basic: animal, vegetable, mineral. Got competitive fast. Loser owed the winner snacks next stop. Sarah guessed my obscure pick – “that weird plastic thing on the end of a shoelace” – in 15 questions. Minds blown.
- Mad Libs on Steroids: No paper? No problem. Jake shouted out nouns, Sarah yelled verbs, Greg threw in adjectives. Billy combined them into insane sentences. “The fluffy policeman juggled the exploding pickle!” Literally cried laughing.
- Car Karaoke Roulette: Took turns picking songs for each other on the spot. No prep. Greg got stuck singing “Baby Shark” opera-style. Priceless. Don’t try opera.
- The Never-Ending Story: One word per person. Started simple: “The…” “alien…” “ate…” Went to truly bizarre places. “The alien ate Greg’s left sock while tap-dancing on a cactus.” Lost track of time completely.
- License Plate Limericks: Saw plate “XGZ 123.” “An explorer named Xavier G. Zorn / Found himself terribly torn / Between…” Working together to finish these stupid rhymes became weirdly addictive. Some were shockingly dirty.
- “Would You Rather…” Deep Cuts: Moved past silly stuff. Hard-hitters like: “Would you rather your phone always scream when you unlock it, or your car horn plays “Yankee Doodle” constantly?” Serious debates erupted. Learned who values silence over dignity.
- Future Predictions: Started predicting weirdly specific stuff for each other: “Billy will spill coffee on himself within 10 minutes of getting home.” Greg predicted Jake would get asked out by a stranger at the gas station. Didn’t happen, but the suspense killed us.
The Verdict & Side Effects
Honestly? Saved our sanity. That traffic jam felt half as long once we got rolling with the stupid limericks and singing roulette. Side effects: sore cheeks from laughing, voice gone from yelling, and Sarah now owes me a giant bag of pretzels. Only downside? We got so into the Never-Ending Story, Jake missed our exit. Total detour. Worth it.
