10:23 a.m. - 2005-04-25
Ode to Rain-Ex
Let me tell you a little bit about a friend I like ot call RAIN-EX.
Travis Kirk and I were driving to Athens, in pouring rain. Suddenly the windshield wipers came to a grinding halt.
We pulled underneath a bridge and tried to determine the problem. It seems that the motor of the windshield wipers just decided to quit working. And they were stuck, motionless across the windshield. We pulled into a BP. Eventually, we got them to lay across the bottom instead of in my field of vision. Travis tinkered. Nothing happened. The rain is pouring. Athens is about 75 miles away.
And then it dawned on me....RAIN-EX. I'd heard of this magical product before. Boys swear by it. Girls have never heard of it. The phrase that has stuck with me, since a half-drunken conversation with a man named Lou from New Jersey, is: You don't even USE your windshield wipers if you have Rain-Ex.
I marched hopefully into the BP, to encounter a couple in their 50s who evidently owned the place. Rain-Ex? I inquired. Sure, they said. I plunked down 3.99 and headed back to the car. Travis eagerly set about reading the directions and I eagerly set about drinking some Gatorade. A clean, dry cloth was needed and so since we didn't have one of those, Travis gamely volunteered his boxer shorts from his overnight bag. What a guy.
He applied the rain ex and buffed it off, as per the instructions. We headed for the highway with hopeful anticipation. As we picked up speed, the rain hitting the windshield magically beaded up and was whisked away. You freaking don't need windshield wipers with Rain-Ex. It is totally true and you should all totally get some.
Kevin says that it would be a good idea to have a helper monkey along who could do things like fix the broken windshield wipers...until I get one of those, I'm going to keep Rain-Ex with me at all times. I wonder if you could put it on your eyeballs and see underwater...
