Love, Poverty & War – Christopher Hitchens

The Hitch on driving a red Corvette on Route 66:

I also came to the painful realization that was to recur to me times without number. A shiny red Corvette can be a boy magnet, alright. When parked, it drew to my side many garage mechanics and hotel doormen and learned young black men and polite old roadside coots who would inquire after the finer points and details. When in motion it would summon cops from deserted streets and vacant landscapes. But it appeared to leave the female sex quite unmoved. Could it be a fault in the design? Perhaps the silhouette? I began to brood, and in fine brooding country.

***

A convincing rainbow-coalition band with a very strong sax is doing its stuff, and the tourist hour seems to have safely passed, until a terrifying skull-faced blonde detaches herself from a gaggle and whacks me in the features with a star wand. “How ya doin’?” I always think, What kind of question is that?, and I always reply, “A bit early to tell.” She gives me another smack with the wand and holds it up so I can see the number “50″ emblazoned at the center. “It’s mah birthday!” Christ. Does she know about the Corvette? - Christopher Hitchens, Love, Poverty & War, pgs 158 and 160.

When I read this, I couldn’t help but imagine what would have happened had Hunter S Thompson joined The Hitch in this trip.