My wife and I were at the U of M bookstore to do some Christmas shopping earlier this afternoon. Once we finished, we made our way through campus / DinkyTown and about 2 stop lights before our exit to 35W, we were stopped at a red light. A single car turned left onto the street we were on from our right. As it turned onto the street we were on (and infront of us) I noticed a black bag or purse or SOMETHING on the back trunk. The car was moving along at a slow rate and the bag was holding steady to the car to my surprise. I'm still sitting at the red light as I watch this car go through another green light and take the turn to the exit to 35W, which happens to be the same exit we are headed. As the car disappeared behind the snowbank, the bag was still sitting on the trunk as if it were mocking us. At that point, I was waiting like a stock car driver for our light to turn green. I couldn't believe how the bag was still on the trunk when it made that turn onto the exit, but I wanted to get that person's attention, and fast.
Finally, green light. I raced up to the exit, turned onto it, and about halfway down the ramp was the bag. I fumbled looking for the hazard lights (we were in my wife's car, and the switch for the hazards are not in the same place as my car), hit them just as I slammed to a stop to get the bag. Sure enough, it was a purse. I picked it up just as a car slowly crept past me and jumped back into the Kia and punched it. Unfortunately, at this point, the original car was long gone. And I was stuck behind the car that rolled past me casually until we finally reached the highway. We weaved in and out of traffic almost like a Hollywood chase scene.. Looking for the black car with a small spoiler that dropped it's purse. Just under 5 miles down the road we come across a black car with said small spoiler.. So I pulled along side it and started honking. Of course, no one on the freeway can hear the Kia's weak ass horn.. My wife is holding up the purse and waving at the neighboring driver.. Finally get their attention (was one of those people where you are not sure if they are male or female), they rolled down their window and the wife shouts the question across the highway "IS THIS YOUR PURSE?!?!" After repeating the question, the other driver continued looking confused and waved us off.
By this time, I tell my wife to just look in the purse for an ID or driver's license so we can identify the driver instead of waving people down on the 35W.. After giving up a weak fight (she didn't want to dig through the purse) she finally found the woman's license and we were at least able to double check the drivers before flagging them down. Kept flying down the highway and lo and behold, there she was. At least, we were 75% sure it was her. Looked kinda, sorta like the little old lady. So I honked, drove behind her and flashed the high beams, pulled alongside her again and honked.. Again. All the while my wife is waving her hand and holding the purse up in hopes that she'll see it. At this point in the juncture, she was in the right lane I'm guessing looking to go East on 694. Our fuel light has been on for how long.. We have no idea. Chasing this car down kinda sidetracked our planned fuel stop. If we follow her East on 694, we have a large chance of running completely out before the next gas station. If she ends up going West on 694, which is still a possibility as both exits are on the right, we are looking in better shape as there are gas stations all along that stretch, and close by as well. We are about 1.5 miles from the 694 interchange when she finally notices us. Got her to roll down her window and as she kept looking as us confused, my wife shouted the question, yet again. Just like a flickering halogen light bulb, her eyes lit. She obviously noticed the purse. She pulled off on the 694 Eastbound exit, and I pulled over just past it.
I jogged the purse back to her and said, "We were chasing you down since Dinkytown young lady!!"
She showered me with kisses and said a few 'God bless you's. I was laughing and chuckling pretty much the whole time, wished her a very Merry Christmas and we went our ways.
The wife and I laughed the whole way to the gas station about it. And definitely put us both in the Christmas Spirit, her even more so. It's not like we wouldn't have done the same if it happened at another time of year, but it definitely makes for a pretty cool Christmas story to pass along to future generations.
Thanks to TheViking88 for the sig!!