Last week, WordPress decided to freshly press a post with a picture of a Volkswagen. It was a good-looking teeny-tiny picture and I wanted to see it bigger. Too bad my computer would not let me. The other thing that came to my head was “Dang it! Now I cannot do the post I was planning on doing about VW Bugs.”
But you know me. Why let someone else’s good fortune stop me from doing what I really want. I mean, in no way is this a “hey, look at me. I am doing the same thing as them and they were freshly pressed last week” kind of post. I am actually telling a story of sorts and they have more pictures than I do. Go back to compare and contrast. Explain in the comment area. (Just kidding, I really do not want essay answers.)
Now, do you remember that game of punching your companion in the arm whenever you see a Volkswagen Beetle? You yell “No Punch Bug Back” so they cannot hit you in the arm. Don’t say it and your arm is open season.
2006 Volkswagen Beetle; Image from Carmax
Who can forget, especially if you have a 14-year-old in the crowd who knows how to punch the part of your arm that has the least amount of fat.
Owww, that hurts.
In our town there are two beetles of the newer variety. One is dark blue and the other is a cream color. In an effort to stop fighting in the car one day, I saw one coming and yelled out “Punch Bug, No Punch Bug Back” as I tapped the closest kid on the leg.
This was great! Kids went ‘what?’ and hands went flying. Kids started keeping an eye out for the rounded car and hitting each other.
Sometimes, we yell out the color so there is no confusion. The seven-year-old ran with this game. He was on the watch at all times. Chances are he will see one before the rest of us. The ten-year-old, however, got tired of being on the receiving end of her older brother’s punches.
They really do hurt.
Picture by Alvimann
She took herself out of the game then had to yell that she wasn’t in the game anymore every time they tried to hit her. I got her back in by playing with me when it was only us in the car. Later I had to set the rule that the punches had to be gentle and not bone-jarring.
Call me the no-fun mom, if you will. But once I did that, the game became fun again.
Without the threat of punches hard enough to make your bones wish you still weighed more than you should for that extra protective layer of fat, the game became a pleasurable distraction from what was another boring trip to run endless errands.
And it is one of those games you can play in the car while traveling. Which would you rather have – kids fighting because they are bored and miserable OR kids hitting each other because they spotted a VW Bug. Alex, I will take VW Bug for $500, please.
The funny thing is I see these bugs all over the place these days. I see them with convertible tops and without. I see red and silver and black. Sometimes, I even see old ones that remind my husband how his first car was a bug. I think about how in the winter they took forever to warm up. Brrrr.
2002 Beetle, Image from Carmax
Now that they are popular again, it is easier to play this game. And the ten-year-old says she wants her first car to be a VW. I told her to start saving her money now. The thing is, I think by the time she is ready to drive, she will have that money because she likes saving up for stuff. And you have to admit, it is a cool-looking car.
Punch Bug Red! No Punch Bug Back!
Notes from Rumbly Cottage 
Man, try and say that fast or backwards or What?! did you punch me! my VW is not beetle!! c
Then I did not punch you. Wait, a yellow bug is going by. PUNCH BUG YELLOW! NO PUNCH BUG BACK!
Someone did that to me recently and I thought they had lost all sense of their marbles! I just looked at them and told them to step away from the caffeine.
I’m was thinking the same thing as ceciliag. Try saying that 10 times fast!
It is impossible. I would not make this a drinking game.
My 9 year old son has recently started noticing and commenting on different cars. I’m going to have to teach him the punchbug game…
Absolutely. My daughter watches for the house that has two of these cars so she can get others before they get her.
Growing up we played the no-contact version. We called it the Doodle Bug game, and you had to include the color when claiming the Doodle Bug. Black Doodle Bugs were worth 5pts, convertible Doodle Bugs were worth 2 points, and a black convertible Doodle Bug was … yep, 7 points.
There were two Doodle Bugs in the neighborhood – a white one and an orange convertible. My brother and one of my sisters and I would do our best to spot those ‘local’ bugs first. Sometimes we’d lose points, because we ‘claimed’ seeing the bug only to find it was not really there.
It wasn’t until late in high school that I learned others played ‘punch bug’. I like Doodle Bug better. All the fun – none of the contact. Doodle Bug Green!
I like the idea of the Doodle bug game.
Ah memories of the bruises! Love the VW pix. We used to paint them up with wild designs and huge flowers. Wish the engine was still in the back. Thanks for the great post
I think that made for their distinctive sound. You knew when a bug was coming down the street.
The girls and I played Bug ’em. bug ’em black. bug ’em yellow or whatever color we would see on the road. No punching involved, no bruises, just squeals of what they saw and its color. Fun if not rolicking post. You have a lively household. Love it!
Great post! When I was little, “Aunt Donna” (not my real aunt) watched me after school before “latchkey” was invented. She had four children of her own, plus a couple other neighborhood kids that she cared for each day. And she crammed us all into her VW when she ran errands. It just occurred to me that the reason we never played that game was because none of us could move, packed like sardines. Or, maybe it wasn’t invented yet (*sigh*).
I remember how my mom and her friend helen would pack four of us kids in the back seat. Sardines about covers it. Ouch!
And we didn’t wear seat beats, either – probably because we were packed too tight to move!
You mean there were seatbelts in those things?
this is the first I have heard of the game – it would have been fun when we were kids as there were loads of bugs on the road back then 🙂
I am guessing the game came about when there were fewer bugs on the road. I still get a thrill when I see one and they are more common now.
I have a feeling I’d get hit a lot. I had a hard time reading the words that would save me from getting punched, let alone having to say them. Thank goodness we didn’t play that game when we were kids…
I know my brother and I never did. Probably a good thing as we didn’t need excuses to punch each other.