# My experience in Maui (what was I seeing?) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 20, 2018, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-in-maui-what-was-i-seeing/812809 "2018-04-20T19:03:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![2Bits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e95f7d/32.png) [@2Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Bits)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-in-maui-what-was-i-seeing/812809/1 "2018-04-20T19:03:30Z")
Actually, despite it being 18 years ago, I can tell you exactly what I was seeing: On route from the airport to our resort (near Lahaina?) I noticed a smashed up car about 50’ from the side of the road in an thicket of trees and shrubs yet not particularly hidden. Even at that distance I thought the damage looked odd, as though it was done by someone with a sledge hammer as opposed to it being the result of an accident. (Dents everywhere I could see, including the roof and hood. Windows smashed.) What made it especially weird is that it was also covered with spray-painted graffiti. It also had the appearance of having been there a while and saw it again a week later on my way home. I probably would have forgotten about it if I didn’t see another half-dozen nearly identical scenes in various locals around the island during my stay. The juxtaposition of these wrecks among the otherwise paradisiacal setting caught me off guard. Anybody here ever see what I saw? ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-in-maui-what-was-i-seeing/812809/2 "2018-04-20T19:07:25Z")
This sort of thing, maybe? > **[Take A Swing At Car Smash Fundraising • Fundraiser Insight](https://www.fundraiserinsight.org/articles/car-smash-fundraising.html)** > > An unconventional fundraising event, the car smash, has always been intriguing for so many reasons. For one, you get to take a sledgehammer to an I’ve also been to some training on motor vehicle extraction (think Jaws of Life) which left the car with some unusual damage. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-in-maui-what-was-i-seeing/812809/3 "2018-04-20T19:24:17Z")
Training vehicles aren’t normally left on the side of the road or in the woods. ---
**Author:** ![2Bits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e95f7d/32.png) [@2Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Bits)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-in-maui-what-was-i-seeing/812809/4 "2018-04-20T19:35:12Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > This sort of thing, maybe? > [Take A Swing At Car Smash Fundraising • Fundraiser Insight](http://www.fundraiserinsight.org/articles/car-smash-fundraising.html) > > I’ve also been to some training on motor vehicle extraction (think Jaws of Life) which left the car with some unusual damage. I can’t imagine that it was anything like that. They were all in unpopulated areas. In most instances it wouldn’t have been impossible to park our car and walk over to them but I never did. In my mind I began to tie them to the anti-mainlander bumper stickers I would see occasionally but couldn’t really explain why they might. ---
**Author:** ![2Bits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e95f7d/32.png) [@2Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Bits)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-in-maui-what-was-i-seeing/812809/5 "2018-04-20T19:36:35Z")
OP here. For what it’s worth, I meant to post this under “Mundane Pointless Stuff…” ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-in-maui-what-was-i-seeing/812809/6 "2018-04-20T20:14:12Z")
When we were on Kaua’i, we saw trashed, beaten cars hidden off the main roads. They were concealed in remnants of sugar cane fields or jungly areas. Locals told us that they were rental cars which had been stolen and purposefully wrecked. ---
**Author:** ![2Bits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e95f7d/32.png) [@2Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Bits)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-in-maui-what-was-i-seeing/812809/7 "2018-04-21T13:52:38Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > When we were on Kaua’i, we saw trashed, beaten cars hidden off the main roads. They were concealed in remnants of sugar cane fields or jungly areas. Locals told us that they were rental cars which had been stolen and purposefully wrecked. Was there a point to it?