What's the Most Embarassing Thing You've Left atop Your Car... Before Driving Off

[Cleverboy]

Lots of people have done it. You never think it'll happen to you until it does.... and OH, THE HORROR!

Ok, so... I've had close calls, but I think the most irritating thing I ever did was put a collection of my favorite CDs (brought in to listen while at work) on the top of my car, before driving off. They were in a leather bound carrier, so apparently they had good traction on the metal. They held on all the way until I took the on-ramp to the highway. I remember seeing something sparkle in the evening light, through my rear-view mirror. As my eyes returned to the road, it took a moment before the truth dawned on me. Later I would return and find the carnage of CDs hit by the fast moving traffic.

It sits as an emotional scar I'll always remember driving through that area. :o

No "Raising Arizona" moments for me though, happy to say! :D

~ CB

[mcarnes]

Wife's PC.

[xUKHCx]

A pizza.

Luckily I had scoffed 2 slices on the way to the car and the third was in my hand as I got in but still that is a good 6 slices gone.

[jknight8907]

I left an impact driver worth about $200 sitting on my truck toolbox. (like this: http://tinyurl.com/yqq67n ) It rode about 25 miles at 80 mph on the interstate, through town, and around corners going possibly too fast. :D All while sitting on a very slick diamond plate toolbox. THEN I go into Lowes, come back out 20 minutes later, walk past the group of unemployed's in the parking lot, and see it. Still there. Hasn't moved an inch. :cool:

That was amazing.

[mrat93]

I didn't do this (cause I don't have a car.) But when I was helping my brother move in to his house with three of his 'brothers' (As if I wasn't good enough for him,) One of his wreckless-driving friends left his laptop on top of his car. Seconds later, we call him and his laptop stayed nicely on top of his car.

PS, this thread makes me think of this. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8hOf_jIWU4) (Of course YouTube didn't have a good quality version.)

[Xander562]

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. :p:o it's true.

[cornopaez]

I lost my orchestra music at the beginning of this semester and I thought of this same situation just about when I realized about that :D. The good thing is that someone turned it in a couple of days after. Anyway... While talking to the Orchestra conductor about it, he told me that driving off with your music on top of your car wasn't nearly as bad as driving away with your 100-year-old violin and watching it brake into a million pieces in the freeway... Bummer. :p

[Cleverboy]

I lost my orchestra music at the beginning of this semester and I thought of this same situation just about when I realized about that :D. The good thing is that someone turned it in a couple of days after. Anyway... While talking to the Orchestra conductor about it, he told me that driving off with your music on top of your car wasn't nearly as bad as driving away with your 100-year-old violin and watching it brake into a million pieces in the freeway... Bummer. :pIt's great when people turn stuff in. Your story reminds me of the time I was coming back in town, and road the subway from the airport. I put my sketch pad on top of the subway token vending machine, and was 2 stops away before I realized I'd left my sketchbook there. When I got back, it was gone. I'd scanned in some of the sketches, but low-res versions of this (http://www.directnexus.com/web_references/drawings/lilprincess.gif), this (http://www.directnexus.com/web_references/drawings/girlsitting.gif) and this (http://www.directnexus.com/web_references/drawings/bbwomen.gif), are the only ones I'll have from that sketchbook. I'd finished a nice portrait of my sister's family I'll never see again. I'm even sure my name was in it... Grr. :mad:
PS, this thread makes me think of this. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8hOf_jIWU4) (Of course YouTube didn't have a good quality version.)Even though its a doll, I sware that video makes me feel like I'm watching something out of Faces of Death. I felt so bad for the people running, that's awful.

~ CB

[OttawaGuy]

A baking sheet of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.

[FJ218700]

6-pack of Steel Reserve tall-boys

[cornopaez]

It's great when people turn stuff in. Your story reminds me of the time I was coming back in town, and road the subway from the airport. I put my sketch pad on top of the subway token vending machine, and was 2 stops away before I realized I'd left my sketchbook there. When I got back, it was gone. I'd scanned in some of the sketches, but low-res versions of this (http://www.directnexus.com/web_references/drawings/lilprincess.gif), this (http://www.directnexus.com/web_references/drawings/girlsitting.gif) and this (http://www.directnexus.com/web_references/drawings/bbwomen.gif), are the only ones I'll have from that sketchbook. I'd finished a nice portrait of my sister's family I'll never see again. I'm even sure my name was in it... Grr. :mad:

~ CB

man, nice work on those. I'm really impressed.

[Clarence]

a baby.

[Cleverboy]

man, nice work on those. I'm really impressed.Thanks. Terrible thing though... those were some of the most detailed sketches I'd ever done at that point (during that vacation), and after I lost my sketchpad, I became lost, and I never did anything more. I just do cartooning now. 1998 (http://www.directnexus.com/web_references/drawings/keiko.gif). Almost 10 years now. Wow. I almost wish I had left it on a car instead. A few tire marks wouldn't have hurt as much.

~ CB

[xsedrinam]

My wallet...in Medellín, Colombia of all places. Long story, short, someone saw it on the highway, stopped, picked it up, found my information, called me and some 4 hours later in one of the most dangerous barrios of the city in the 80's, returned it to me in tact, documents, credit cards and all.

BTW, Nice thread topic, Cleverboy.

[iRachel]

My keys. Well, I guess i didn't really drive off, since I couldn't, but here's what happened...I unlocked the doors, then put the keys on the roof so that I could load some crap (I don't even remember what) into the backseat. Then, I get into the car, strap myself in, and realize that I don't have the keys. After patting all of my pockets and checking my backpack and purse, I decide I must have left them upstairs in my apartment (For whatever reason, it never occured to me that I opened the car two minutes ago, and therefore the keys had to be nearby). I got out of the car, hiked back upstairs, then realized my apartment door was locked, so...clearly I had the keys when I left. I started to panic, thinking I must have dropped them somewhere, and I ran back downstairs, where, as I re-entered the garage, I finally saw them sitting on the roof. :o:rolleyes:

[Stampyhead]

man, nice work on those. I'm really impressed.

Yeah, no kidding. You could get a job doing illustrations for the Wall Street Journal. :)

[gotzero]

I left a notebook I used for a college course on my roof. About three miles in on the way, I look in the rear view and see an explosion of papers.

It did not take me long to figure out what I had done after I saw this. Somehow, I believe I was able to recover every piece of paper. Thankfully I was not on a busy road...

[twoodcc]

my wallet.....while i was pumping gas. luckly it stayed up there for like 15 miles, and then fell off when i turned. then someone found it and called me to come get it. i was lucky, but for some reason the only card that wasn't in there was my debit card :eek:

[Queso]

Not quite the same, but one time coming back from visiting my brother my panniers flew off the back of the motorbike and got mashed by a lorry, which disappeared off still carrying one of them in its axle. The other summarily burst open spilling my dirty clothes all over the carriageway. I picked up what I could, but my sister-in-law took great delight in telling me that a pair of my Calvins lay on the hard shoulder for nearly a week afterwards :)

[d_and_n5000]

a baby.

MmmWhat?

A baby?

Seriously?

Wow.

:eek:


As for me, I haven't done that...yet. I'm sure that my time's coming.

Although I did leave my iPod on the floor of my grandpa's riding lawnmower and have it fall off and me almost run over it, coming close to shredding it to bits with the blade. I felt extremely smart after that.

[Abstract]

Ninja stars, sharp nails, and lots of fishing hooks. Once I took off in my car, they flew off my car and shot backwards quite quickly. I hope none of the children playing in the pre-school behind me were hurt.

[tobefirst]

I left a 32 oz. bottle of Powerade up there one time. I think it was the fruit punch kind. It was pretty traumatic.

That's the only thing I remember leaving on top of the car. Now that I say that, though, I'm probably going to do it again.

[adrianblaine]

I'm originally from Oregon, so when I got my first car and went away to school in Michigan, I had to actually pump my own gas on a regular basis for the first time in my life. Of course I was inevitably going to forget to put the gas cap back on at least once. As I turned out of the gas station I saw in the rear view mirror, my gas cap go flying across the street. If anyone saw my Oregon plates and knew that Oregonians don't pump their own gas, I'm sure they would have gotten a good laugh out of it.

[Cleverboy]

I left a 32 oz. bottle of Powerade up there one time. I think it was the fruit punch kind. It was pretty traumatic.

That's the only thing I remember leaving on top of the car. Now that I say that, though, I'm probably going to do it again.Agreed. Terror is the unexpected sound a a plastic bottle filled with liquid, bouncing off the metal of your car frame. For the first few moments, you listen for its cry of pain. :)

~ CB

[RevToTheRedline]

A pony.

[obeygiant]

2 garbage bags... full garbage bags.

[Cloudane]

a baby.

I was going to say my grandmother, but you win :D

Never done the leave-something-on-the-roof-and-drive-off thing yet. (Well that's put a curse on it)

[user13]

We had a party one day and were drinking beer when one of my friends decided to place in the garage. We two went there. We opened the doors and smoked for a while, putting the beer on the roof of the car and sat into it. Then we heard a bumping sound and a crack on the front window appeared:D

[Cleverboy]

A pony.I doubt that very much, sir. :D

~ CB

[eric55lv]

My cell phone and it was $700 wish i did no put it there:(

[Telp]

Wife's PC.

You were subcounsciously trying to help her out :p;)

[ErikCLDR]

I haven't personally put anything but my dad has had pizza and coffee and a cell phone fly off his roof.

[FJ218700]

I haven't personally put anything but my dad has had pizza and coffee and a cell phone fly off his roof.

you should have left the deer up there :rolleyes:

[pknz]

Well I left an envelope with a cheque in it on the roof (but I wasn't the one who drove off). Can't remember what the cheque was for either.

I remember one of my mates turned up late to a football game as he had lost his boots after leaving them on top of his car before driving off.

[iTeen]

A costco package of feta cheese...fell off on a very busy street and was smushed...that whole area stunk for about half-a-day...
i thought it was funny:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

[Plymouthbreezer]

Trojan Warm Sensations.

Woops. :eek:

[alworcester]

I left my wallet on my bumper once. It traveled over thirty miles right where i left it and actually made it all the way home.

[kgarchar]

My wallet...in Medellín, Colombia of all places. Long story, short, someone saw it on the highway, stopped, picked it up, found my information, called me and some 4 hours later in one of the most dangerous barrios of the city in the 80's, returned it to me in tact, documents, credit cards and all.

BTW, Nice thread topic, Cleverboy.Vincent Chase is Pablo Escobar in Medellín.

[Cassie]

MmmWhat?

A baby?

Seriously?

Wow.

:eek:


As for me, I haven't done that...yet. I'm sure that my time's coming.

Although I did leave my iPod on the floor of my grandpa's riding lawnmower and have it fall off and me almost run over it, coming close to shredding it to bits with the blade. I felt extremely smart after that.
I'm assuming that was not a hard drive based iPod?:rolleyes::p

[bgd]

Yesterday I watched a taxi drive past with a child seat on the roof. The seat was empty.

[BadlyDrawnGirl]

A Cherry Coke slurpee from 7-11, but it actually stayed on there all the way through the parking lot until I realized, as I was about to turn onto the road, that I didn't have my icy sugary goodness with me. Emergency! So I got it down and drank it and it was good. :D

[spikespike]

my ipod and a pair of nice headphones. we noticed when the headphones flew off the back. we pulled over assuming the worst, but the ipod had caught the rubber between the door and the roof and stuck. The headphones looked okay...until a minivan blasted them to pieces.

[jeffzoom91]

Nothing yet for me, as I have a trunk and use it for everything. However, a friend of mines' mother who I rode to school with in early grade school used to leave coffee mugs atop her car ALL the time. After breaking one, it was to plastic she went. So everytime we left his house, first stop sign= coffee flavored windscreen fluid, and a blue cylinder cascading (vomiting the brown liquid everywhere) down the windscreen, bouncing off the end of the hood and rolling under the car. If we were lucky she ran over it and it would be seen some 25 feet away.:rolleyes:

[benlee]

a couple pizzas when I used to delivery pizzas in high school (needless to say they had to be remade).

Either my brother or I left Mario Bros. 3 on my mom's car when we first got the game....still scarred from losing that game. Had to wait a couple months (if i remember correctly) before my mom finally bought us a new one.

[true777]

I used to laugh about a boyfriend who would leave plastic cups of coke on his car roof virtually everyday and drive off -- after a few minutes the coke would spill all over the windshield, of course. He did it with coffee, too, and I always made fun of him.

Years later, drained after a gruesome whole-day job interview, I left my Macbook Pro on the roof of my own car and drove off. After a few blocks while I was stopped at a red light the woman in the car next to mine started making crazy gestures and pointing to my roof and I finally realized that my Mac was sitting on top of it, jumped out and rescued it. It was fine and I felt like the stupidest person in the universe. Losing the MacBook Pro would have been a disaster.

[theman]

a $10,000 violin.

yeah, it wasn't one of my greater moments. it fell of on the road, luckily it was in a good case. afterwards I had it inspected thoroughly, and it was fine. Still has the same sound... i was so lucky... i love that violin. it's irreplaceable.

I lost my orchestra music at the beginning of this semester and I thought of this same situation just about when I realized about that :D. The good thing is that someone turned it in a couple of days after. Anyway... While talking to the Orchestra conductor about it, he told me that driving off with your music on top of your car wasn't nearly as bad as driving away with your 100-year-old violin and watching it brake into a million pieces in the freeway... Bummer. :p

glad i got lucky... i still have nightmares about that. my violin is only 70 years old though...:rolleyes:

[cornopaez]

a $10,000 violin.

yeah, it wasn't one of my greater moments. it fell of on the road, luckily it was in a good case. afterwards I had it inspected thoroughly, and it was fine. Still has the same sound... i was so lucky... i love that violin. it's irreplaceable.

glad i got lucky... i still have nightmares about that. my violin is only 70 years old though...:rolleyes:

Man, you really got lucky... never thought a violin could actually survive a fall like that. :D I understand you waking up in the middle of the night, with a cold sweat worried about the instrument... I would if something happens to my French Horn ;)

[TimJim]

a $10,000 violin.

yeah, it wasn't one of my greater moments. it fell of on the road, luckily it was in a good case. afterwards I had it inspected thoroughly, and it was fine. Still has the same sound... i was so lucky... i love that violin. it's irreplaceable.



glad i got lucky... i still have nightmares about that. my violin is only 70 years old though...:rolleyes:

Wow, that must have been a killer case.

[kflook]

Mine could have been quite disastrous, I left my work keys (one of which was a master key to the building) on my car roof a couple years ago. Thankfully they slid down the windshield at the stop sign leaving the parking lot.

[theman]

Man, you really got lucky... never thought a violin could actually survive a fall like that. :D I understand you waking up in the middle of the night, with a cold sweat worried about the instrument... I would if something happens to my French Horn ;)

it's a really really solid case. and it just fell off when i was pulling out onto the road. So it basically just fell 6 feet from the top of the car. not really that bad. and luckily nobody ran over it. i just get scared thinking about what COULD have happened.

[Big-TDI-Guy]

The worst thing I left on my car? Seriously? SNOW.

When I was younger (and admittedly a bit dumber) I had a bunch of white fluffy snow on my car. It cleaned right off my windows with just a quick blow. So I figured it would blow off the rest of my car by the time I hit 20 MPH. (and most of it did) Then when I got on the highway, I heard this god-awful noise, and saw a HUGE sheet of ice that was under that snow fly off my roof right in my rear view. It took off in ONE piece like a fricken plane! It started heading towards the median, and I began to @($t a brick - It then NAILED an overhead freeway sign.

I thank my lucky @$$ it didn't hit an oncoming car. To stay intact in a 65mph wind - it must have been SOLID - and to hit a windshield at 130MPH could have been very bad.

Then, in a twist of fate - just a week later - it happened to ME. A massive ice-sheet came off the top of a semi - and because (and ONLY because) I was looking at that truck thinking to myself "man, imagine what would happen if a truck-sized piece of ice fell" .... Sure as hell - guess what lifted off his roof? I slammed on my brakes and broke hard right. It actualy "slapped" the ground firmly where I likely would have been.

Yeowza.

Now I clean my roof squeaky clean, and stay the F away from anything with snow on it - or that even "might" have snow on it - while on the freeway.

[theman]

Similar thing happened to me, except when i was braking. It slid off onto the front of the car and tore the hood off! That was the most insane thing that's ever happened to me.

[cornopaez]

it's a really really solid case. and it just fell off when i was pulling out onto the road. So it basically just fell 6 feet from the top of the car. not really that bad. and luckily nobody ran over it. i just get scared thinking about what COULD have happened.

That must be the best violin case ever made :rolleyes: :D

[adrianblaine]

The worst thing I left on my car? Seriously? SNOW.

When I was younger (and admittedly a bit dumber) I had a bunch of white fluffy snow on my car. It cleaned right off my windows with just a quick blow. So I figured it would blow off the rest of my car by the time I hit 20 MPH. (and most of it did) Then when I got on the highway, I heard this god-awful noise, and saw a HUGE sheet of ice that was under that snow fly off my roof right in my rear view. It took off in ONE piece like a fricken plane! It started heading towards the median, and I began to @($t a brick - It then NAILED an overhead freeway sign.

I thank my lucky @$$ it didn't hit an oncoming car. To stay intact in a 65mph wind - it must have been SOLID - and to hit a windshield at 130MPH could have been very bad.

Then, in a twist of fate - just a week later - it happened to ME. A massive ice-sheet came off the top of a semi - and because (and ONLY because) I was looking at that truck thinking to myself "man, imagine what would happen if a truck-sized piece of ice fell" .... Sure as hell - guess what lifted off his roof? I slammed on my brakes and broke hard right. It actualy "slapped" the ground firmly where I likely would have been.

Yeowza.

Now I clean my roof squeaky clean, and stay the F away from anything with snow on it - or that even "might" have snow on it - while on the freeway.

That's pretty insane. I spent the last 4 years in Michigan and experienced similar situations, although none were quite that intense. I followed a semi once that kept throwing chunks of ice randomly and I was having to dodge them, but nothing very big. But those days are over since I will most likely not drive in snow again for quite awhile.

[eric55lv]

rotten eggs it fell on hightway 95 in las vegas now it stinks

[GSMiller]

An empty Sierra Mist can...

I think that's the only thing I've ever left on the top of my car.

[VoodooDaddy]

Had a cpl close calls with leaving things on top of the car. I think most everyone has left a drink of some kind up there.

Once I left a set of key on there, and my wife took off using her set. Somehow the keys slid to one of the doors and one key got lodged in the weatherstripping so they didnt fall off.

The next thing was my Blackberry. Im driving and I start looking for my phone. Cant find it. Then I hear this clunk on the roof and think "oh no! Please tell me I didnt." Pulled over and was relieved and suprised to see it was still up there. Thankfully the vehicle had a luggage rack that kept it from sliding off.

[naftalim]

My Sharp Wizard

[anti-microsoft]

A pony.

Let's not get stupid...

[Big-TDI-Guy]

My Sharp Wizard

I used one of those long ago when I was repairing medical lasers. WOW that took me back. The one we had was a "holy grail" / magnificent device given to us by god himself according to my old boss. I used to PRAY that thing got left on the top of a car - or smashed / stolen at the airports. I hated using it for servicing these units. 16 characters fly by fast in terminal mode - so writing down large data sets and manipulating it, not very fun.

Of course - bossman finally broke down and got me a printer a long time later - which saved me the tedious work on ONE service call. By then I had already gotten the gears moving on a Laptop. The Wizard went back to it's primary job of collecting dust thereafter.

Bet you 10 bucks it's still in the same room I left it, right next to it's HP counterpart. Along with the thermal printer that would double in mass when alkalines are in it.

"Let's not get stupid..."

When were we not stupid? Did I sleep in too late, or miss that day entirely?
:)

[Mord]

I've been left on a car roof.

Does that count?

[iSaint]

My father's Canon F-1 camera. I was sixteen at the time. Luckily I stopped to see what everyone was screaming at me about.

Adult life: I left a full coffee cup on top of my old Volvo and drove six blocks to drop my daughter off at daycare. It survived to appease my caffeine needs for the day. She still laughs about that.

[arkitect]

What's the Most Embarassing Thing You've Left atop Your Car… Before Driving Off?

Hmm. Does nothing count? :o

[mpw]

Three things I can think of;
1) Bottle of water, meh just had some odd looks from people as I drove off.
2) Camera, frantic waving stopped me before leaving the car park. No damage, but a bit embarrassing as the waving was by my brother who'd just given me the camera as a birthday gift before leaving the restaurant.
3) Telephone, heard a thump against the car as I drove away and thought it was odd as there was nothing about I could clipped with the wing mirror or whatever... sudden realization after about 300m that I'd taken my phone out of my top pocket and put it on the roof while bending to load stuff in as I didn't want it dropping out of the pocket. The phone was gone by the time I got back less than 10mins. later, but turned up at the local Police lost and found and was still working perfectly a couple of days later, Nokia FTW:D

[Nugget]

Now I clean my roof squeaky clean, and stay the F away from anything with snow on it - or that even "might" have snow on it - while on the freeway.

Man, that brings back memories of when I lived up in the icy North. I "fixed the glitch" by moving to Austin. Here, when it does snow, it melts by noon and nobody expects you to actually drive in it or anything insane like that. :)

[mgguy]

HAHAHAHAHAHA. This thread is a blast. My wife and I just got beaten up in our home a week ago by a crazy neighbor and this actually made me laugh. I was wondering if I would ever do that again.

I've left everything on my car over my too-many years on this planet. The funniest was a very large potted plant I left on my small Toyota when I was in my early 20s. After about 25 miles driving through city streets, I turned a corner and hear a loud crash. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my plant in my favorite hand-made pot being splattered all over the sidewalk and against a building. How absurd I must have looked to other drivers with my plant standing up proudly on the roof of my car. Funny thing is, no one gestured to let me know that it was up there. Bastards... :D

[mpw]

HAHAHAHAHAHA. This thread is a blast. My wife and I just got beaten up in our home a week ago by a crazy neighbor and this actually made me laugh. I was wondering if I would ever do that again.
...
:eek: Wow that's awful! But I'm glad it sounds like you're 'okay'. And laughing is bloody great, nothing worse than not being able to laugh, joke and have fun; I make a point of cracking joke at what some might think are inappropriate moments because laughter is the best medicine.... except for arterial bleeds, where you're better off with a coagulant or going a surgical route.

…I've left everything on my car over my too-many years on this planet.....
Wow that has to be hard on your suspension.

[Big-TDI-Guy]

HAHAHAHAHAHA. This thread is a blast. My wife and I just got beaten up in our home a week ago by a crazy neighbor and this actually made me laugh. I was wondering if I would ever do that again.

That is filed under Sub Chapter J - Book 17 - Page 211: "Reason 174,936 I will never l live in California."

:D

[iSaint]

HAHAHAHAHAHA. This thread is a blast. My wife and I just got beaten up in our home a week ago by a crazy neighbor and this actually made me laugh. I was wondering if I would ever do that again.


We want details in another thread. What in the world??? :confused: :confused:

Hope y'all (you guys) are ok!

[mgguy]

I didn't mean to get too serious in this thread. Just needed to let off a little anxiety by sharing a little humor. I started writing more details about the attack on us, but my wife noticed and put a stop to it. She is so traumatized and stressed out that she doesn't want any details posted at this point. I have heard that victims of physical battery go into sort of a PTSD response where fear runs rampant, and I am now realizing that this is happening to her and to me to a smaller extent as well. Anyway, thanks for the kind words of support. This forum is a great distraction from chaos and I will continue to participate as time allows.

[zyuzin4]

My oakley sunglasses. Never found them.

[iLoveiPod]

Not too embarrassing, just a glass of soda.

[iToaster]

My dad leaves his coffee on the roof a lot, but not as much anymore... maybe he learned from all the disasters. The worst things I left on the roof were a flashlight (a tough one that quickly slid off and broke) and a can of RC cola that flowed off into the window and gummed it up so it would never go up without a fight if it went down.