7:30am on a Monday

Some time in the near future, stop and think about someone you know but don't know all that well. Without reservation, name the type of car you think they drive. Then (without being a creeper) find out the real answer.

I tend to create images of people in my mind when I get to know them, trying to figure out who they are and what they're in to. I don't do it to stereotype anyone, I just think it's an interesting game. You can usually peg the people who drive pickups or SUVs, mini-vans, or hybrids. But, every now and again, someone will shock you.

So there I am, getting a cup of coffee just as I do every morning. On this particular day, the gentleman ahead of me happened to be a relatively famous (for ND) artist. Since no one reading this was there with me and since I will not name his name, I will let you know that he's the real deal when it comes to artists. It's what he does for a living and he's very "artisty" ... if that draws a picture in your mind. Eccentric, a little grungy, wears decorative scarves but not in a feminine way, more in a don't-want-to-get-paint-or-turpentine-down-my-shirt way. Very cool. You look at the guy and you literally think: Artist. He owns it. (In fact, he has an accent. An accent! And, I don't mean a Canadian one. To boot, I'm not sure it's even real! Yet he's cool enough to pull that off! But I digress.)

Here, then, was odd realization #1. He was at Starbucks. The stereotypes about drinking Starbucks are well known far and wide. Obviously I have no problem with them since I'm there every single day (They gave me a Christmas present one time. Shameful.). But it seemed really strange that this artist who definitely operates in a I'm-not-living-my-life-according-to-the-man way was there too.

Now that this story has gotten far too lengthy, here is odd realization #2: As I walked to my car (2-door Honda Civic) I saw him driving out of the lot. I now ask you, what is your guess for this uber cool artist person? Mine would have been an old school Toyota, a Datsun pickup, or an old Bronco - yellow with some rusty spots. Maybe a Woody, even. Kinda funky, cheap, utilitarian.

Nope. A Chevy Lumina.

Nothing is wrong with a Chevy Lumina. They are perfectly good cars driven by perfectly good people, but of all the vehicles I would have put him in, that wasn't at the top of my list. In fact, I may have put him in a Audi before a Chevy Lumina.

Blew my mind.

Then again it was 7:30am on a Monday and it wouldn't have taken much.