A few weeks ago, I told you about the relatively ne
w Jeep tradition of placing a rubber duck on a fellow Jeeper’s vehicle. In case you missed that story, you can click here and read more about the phenomenon. Go ahead, I’m happy to wait while you peruse that article.
For those that already did your homework, I’ll continue.
As mentioned in early May, I quickly joined the ‘game’ and have since had fun ‘ducking’ Jeeps at retail stores, restaurants, even at a national landmark fairly off the beaten path.
With a desire to gather more intel on Jeep-related-topics, thanks to the information superhighway, I’ve now also joined a couple Facebook groups (there are a shocking number of options). Inevitably – mixed in with questions on door removal, requests for help on naming one’s Jeep, and general maintenance tidbits, there are lots of posts regarding giving and receiving the (rubberized) feathered friends.
In these online groups, when someone has written about receiving such a plaything, there is often a comment from a sad, fowl-free member pondering whether this experience will ever happen to them. Being devoid-of-ducks myself, I paid attention to the responses. Many said they’d never leave a toy on a currently-duckless Jeep for fear the driver would toss it on the ground. Surprisingly a number of people apparently had this experience! Throwing away such cuteness – how do those monsters sleep at night?
The consensus was that one needs to display a duck to receive a duck. Memories of trying to find my first post-college employment flooded back – the frustration of being told I needed experience to get the job but I couldn’t get the experience…because I needed experience to get the job.
But back to the current dilemma, should I try to acquire this coveted prize under false pretenses? With knowing Sunny had already celebrated his one month birthday sans duck, it was an easy decision: Time to deploy Operation Decoy.
The plan went into effect yesterday. The bait was placed gingerly on the dashboard and remained on his perch through a number of stops, viewing busy parking lots and silently sending out ‘bring me a friend’ signals. But to no avail.
Before he had a chance to feel down (get it…down?) just one day later it happened. Having been to two very populated areas earlier in the day, it wasn’t looking promising and as I parked at the third location, the potential riches weren’t even on my radar – the lot was fairly empty and my selected spot was quite far from other vehicles. So, imagine the surprise and happiness I felt (it’s possible I said ‘yay’ out loud) upon approaching the driver’s side to see something snuggled into the door handle. There he was – in all his purple and yellow glory.
Sunny finally joined the elite group that can proudly claim they’ve been ducked!
Questions about Sunny’s new co-pilot? Feel free to ask in the ‘Comments’ section!