By Allison and Natalie Fitts

In last week’s issue of the Dart, you may have read a column by Natalie regarding her disdain for driving. She expresses strong feelings, but she has only scratched the surface.  Now that we are both old enough to drive, a sort of competition/critical animosity has developed between us. Natalie will write in blue and Allison will write in orange.

If you read my column (which you should have), you know I’m not the best/happiest driver. However, that doesn’t stop me from critiquing Allison when I feel my life is in danger while she’s driving. Multiple times, I have said, “Maybe we should slow down a bit” or “The volume of the music is slightly too high.” She doesn’t always oblige happily, but she does oblige.

Hold up now! You have never made any of those requests that politely. Here are the more accurate phrases you use: “Please slow down, NOW” and “Please turn the music down, NOW”. I will admit that you say “please”, but it’s in that insincere way that you are known for.

I’m pretty sure I’ve never been that demanding, but for making up that lie, I will from now on. And you must admit that sometimes you get a little crazy when others are in the car. Please recall that time you and your friend, Kim, had a screaming match while you were driving (for those you don’t know, a screaming match is a competition in which two or more contestants see who can scream the loudest).

That was a fun game and you participated, so I don’t want to hear it. But if you really want to talk about craziness, discussing our carpool is a must. Natalie and I, Emily and Nicole Wemhoff and Olivia Scheuler all carpool to school together. We talk about our lives, which are hilarious in-and-of themselves, but we also have a few rituals which spice up the twice daily drive.

One of my favorite carpool activities takes place whenever Nicole is driving. Picture this: Emily is sitting in the front seat. I’m in the back. I whisper to Emily, pointing to the sunroof. She automatically understands and a few moments later, Emily casually lifts her hand up to press the button to open the sun roof. Without fail, the whole carpool gets angry at us and we laugh like it’s the funniest thing on earth (because it is). Unfortunately, this fun will have to be put on hold during the winter months because of the weather. But it will come back better than ever as soon as the temperature hits 50 degrees in the spring.

I never get mad at the ritual; it’s hilarious! One thing that you always do in carpool that I don’t understand is throw the core from the apple you ate for breakfast out the window…

You must admit that this is better than leaving it in your car for weeks, like I did last year. You should be thankful; I’m doing you a huge favor. So, you’re welcome.

I thank you for that. With all of these rituals, and our anticipation of seeing the same little boy at the bus stop by the Plaza every day, you can see why our carpool has given itself its own Twitter hashtag. We are the “high energy carpool” or #hec.

I have yet to ride with Natalie in the seven months she’s had her permit, but I told her and Emily that they have to drive carpool at least once this year to experience the torture of driving crazy passengers.

I already know I’m going to hate that, but hey, at least our cars don’t have sun roofs and the windows are lockable.

Remember, next week is our awesome Halloween edition! So be there! Until next time, see ya sistas!