Slug Tales: Elvis Lover Bewilders Commuters

By Laura Cirillo

Anyone who frequently uses the slug lines to commute is bound to experience something out of the ordinary from time to time. When asked, most slugs could probably manage to recall a unique personality or situation they’ve experienced at some point of their travels.

One morning while Slugging to work, I was picked up by a retired Marine who was headed to the Pentagon. It was clear from the start he was a Marine, from his car’s license plate holder, to his Marine Corps baseball cap, to the piles of Marine doodads inside his car, there was certainly no mistaking it.

What made this significantly more peculiar was that he didn’t look like a stereotypical fit, retired military-type, and more like, well, Santa Claus. Overgrown white hair, white beard, glasses and… denim overalls? Look, I don’t know what Santa wears in the off-season. I just knew the second I got into the backseat and shut the door that this was going to be an interesting ride.

I wondered where this man would go once he arrived at the Pentagon. Could he possibly work a desk job dressed like that? I pondered this while we listened to a twangy old country song that sounded a lot like Elvis Presley. Though I didn’t know it at the time, I discovered later that it was actually an Elvis song.

“Train, traaaaain, comin’ round, round the bend…” I was pretty sure that would be stuck in my head all day. The song ended as I closed my eyes in an attempt to catch up on the sleep I undoubtedly missed out on the night before, and next thing I know, the song started playing again!

“Train I riiiiide, sixteen coaches long… Well, that long black train got my baby and gone…”

OK, I get it. He likes the song and wants to hear it again. He must have hit repeat on his CD player, which I’ve done that plenty of times myself. But once it was over, it played again. And again. That song played in one continuous loop, repeating itself over and over as Saint Nick drove 90 mph on the High Occupancy Vehicle lanes to the Pentagon. I was starting to feel like I had entered The Twilight Zone.

The best part of that morning had to be the end of the ride. As he stopped the car at the designated Slug drop-off spot, he turned down the music and said, smiling, “Well, I hope you’ve both memorized the words to my favorite song. I know I sure have!”

Normally, I’d say “thank you” before exiting the vehicle, but that day, even I was at a loss for words. After all, how do you respond to that?!

The front seat passenger got out, shut the door and looked at me, bewildered.

“Was that the same song playing over and over?” she asked. I told her that I was pretty sure it was the exact same song throughout the ride.

“Weird,” she said, shaking her head. “I thought maybe it was a remix, but I didn’t think they could remix country songs like that.”

All I could do was laugh.

Laura Cirillo lives in Prince William County and commutes to work daily in Washington, D.C. Whether she’s slugging or on the bus, Laura knows commuting is always more fun on Northern Virginia’s High Occupancy Vehicle lanes, avoiding rush hour madness and catching a power nap along the way.

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