Cruisin' Around NYC in the Pokémon-mobile!

At 9:30 a.m. one morning, my phone rang. It was my good friend Todd. He asked, "What are ya doin' today? I've got the car! It's really cute -- I can't wait for you to see it." (Todd works freelance, and sometimes comes upon kooky jobs. I remembered Todd telling me the week before that he was going to have a three-day job driving a new VW Beetle around NYC, as some kind of promotional event.) I said, "Well, the only thing I have planned is that I'm getting my hair cut at 11:30." "Great!" Todd replied, "I'll give you a ride there, and then we can cruise around afterward. I'll pick you up outside your apartment at eleven."

I sat outside my building, and kept a look out for a new VW Beetle. Within five minutes, I saw a bright yellow one heading my way. As it neared and I got a closer look, my jaw dropped, and I shook my head in disbelief. This was no ordinary Beetle! Todd pulled up in front of me, and gave me a big wave. We started laughing.

I exclaimed, "This is a crazy-looking car!" Dumbfounded, I asked, "What is it for?" "It's a promotion for the Japanese computer game, 'Pokémon,'" Todd replied. "I'm getting paid $200 a day just to drive around the city! Can you believe it?"

A couple of times in the past, Todd and I had the privilege of driving around NYC in his ex-boss' incredible 1966 black and chrome Mustang convertible, and sure -- lots of people stared at us and made remarks about the car. And yeah -- we pretended it was ours, and felt like big shots. But driving around in the Pokémon-mobile was infinitely more fun. It was a "happy car," that in a moment's glance, brought out the good in people -- even in rushed and stressed New Yorkers. Tons of people smiled and pointed at the crazy-looking car when they saw us driving along. I smiled back, and sometimes even waved at the complete strangers.

When we passed a group of young school children -- oh, my God -- they went absolutely wild! They started screaming and pointing, and made quite a commotion. We handed out Pokémon postcards to the kids, hoping we wouldn't incite a riot when they rushed over to the car all at once, and surrounded us. Who knew Pokémon is such a rage among the kids?!

Todd and I had such a blast that day. And before the day's end, Todd made sure to snap some pics of me and the Pokémon-mobile....