# Wow, these crystals certainly help my driving! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 5, 2001, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-crystals-certainly-help-my-driving/85671 "2001-10-05T21:00:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BigGiantHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b4bc9f/32.png) [@BigGiantHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigGiantHead)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-crystals-certainly-help-my-driving/85671/21 "2001-10-06T20:18:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bean\_shadow \* > \*\*I’ve never seen crystals hanging from the mirrors. I happen to have a small Buttercup doll, and various Mardi Gras beads. \*\* [Buttercup?](http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/pinafore/web_opera/pn14.html) Really? ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-crystals-certainly-help-my-driving/85671/22 "2001-10-06T20:35:12Z")
Hmmmm … regional car accessorization trends … Orlando – Puerto Rican flags Boulder – large collections of progressive liberal and/or Wiccan bumper stickers (“Visualize World Peace,” “TOWANDA!”, “FREE LEONARD PELTIER!”, “The Goddess is Alive and Magic is Afoot,” etc.) Denver – ski rack, mountain bike, or kayak, regardless of season Buffalo – either Catholic paraphernalia (rosary beads, medallions, saint cards, etc.) or … drumroll place … CROWN AIR FRESHENERS! You do know that each crown signifies a person the driver has shot and killed, don’t you? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Deej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/53a042/32.png) [@Deej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deej)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-crystals-certainly-help-my-driving/85671/23 "2001-10-06T20:44:04Z")
Our county cops have gotten a bug up their ass about anything hanging from a rear view mirror. Anything. They’ll pull over anyone, for hanging anything. Former babysitter got pulled over for fuzzy dice. Neice got pulled over for graduation tassel. Mom got pulled over for a PTAF. Nephew got pulled over for a prom garter. All the above within the last two weeks. Sometimes they ticket, and sometimes they don’t. Mom got a ticket, but the neice and nephew just got a warning, so it’s not like they’re targeting anyone. (Mom is 70, and the neice and nephew are both 18.) Needless to say, nobody has much of anything hanging from the mirror around here anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-crystals-certainly-help-my-driving/85671/24 "2001-10-06T23:49:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Deej \* > \*\*…Needless to say, nobody has much of anything hanging from the mirror around here anymore. \*\* Harumph! And it’s about time. It _is_ illegal, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-crystals-certainly-help-my-driving/85671/25 "2001-10-07T02:40:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anthracite \* > \*\* When the crystals and CD’s blind me, they make me angry enough to think of renacting a scene from an older movie…_Walking Tall_, was it? \*\* You sure it wasn’t [Un Chien Andalou](http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/greatmovies/ebert16.html)’s famous eyeball sequence?? 😉 Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Lucki\_Chaarms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lucki\_Chaarms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucki_Chaarms)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-crystals-certainly-help-my-driving/85671/26 "2001-10-07T21:07:01Z")
**elmwood** : if you’re lucky enough to be in Boulder, don’t complain about the bumper stickers. Go climb the flatirons or smoke pot with the cops on pearl street. Or go eat at The Sink, where all the tables have articles from The Onion all over them. Geez, I miss Boulder. Road trip this summer baby! In my car it’s a red plastic lei(sp? the hawaiian thing) that I found by the side of the road. It just belongs on my rearview, and I would be pissed if a cop called me on it. LC ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-crystals-certainly-help-my-driving/85671/27 "2001-10-07T21:24:53Z")
Uh, “Emergency Condoms”? Hanging from the rear-view mirror? \ ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-crystals-certainly-help-my-driving/85671/28 "2001-10-07T21:34:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BigGiantHead \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by bean\_shadow \* > > \*\*I’ve never seen crystals hanging from the mirrors. I happen to have a small Buttercup doll, and various Mardi Gras beads. \*\* > > [Buttercup?](http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/pinafore/web_opera/pn14.html) Really? \*\* Nope. 😃 Sorry to burst your bubble, but it’s Buttercup (the green one) from _Power Puff Girls_. ---
**Author:** ![Blackclaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@Blackclaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackclaw)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-crystals-certainly-help-my-driving/85671/29 "2001-10-08T00:11:51Z")
I have a dream catcher hanging from mine, that way if I ever fall asleep while in my car I can retrieve the dream I had and see if the resulting wreck was worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-crystals-certainly-help-my-driving/85671/30 "2001-10-08T07:45:49Z")
on a different but not worthy of a new thread note…how about a flag, an american flag, about 18" tall and 2’ long, DEAD FUCKING CENTER IN THE REAR WINDOW! I guess even the mentally deficient can be patriotic and get a license. ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-crystals-certainly-help-my-driving/85671/31 "2001-10-08T09:38:08Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Persephone \* > \*\* > Not mine, though. I have nothing hanging from my rear-view mirror. Not a thing. I’m no sheep! You silly folks, with your crystals and your CD’s and your Grinch changeholders! I follow my own path! The Path Of People Who Don’t Want Taz On The Rear-View! The Path of People Who Can’t Afford Crystals! The Path of People…_\* What you need is one of those minature straw brooms with the little tag on it that says: “Alternate form of transportation.” 😃 All my Pagan friends have those. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-crystals-certainly-help-my-driving/85671/32 "2001-10-08T12:50:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blackclaw \* > \*\*I have a dream catcher hanging from mine, that way if I ever fall asleep while in my car I can retrieve the dream I had and see if the resulting wreck was worth it. \*\* Hilarious- whenever I see dreamcatchers hanging in cars, I say the exact same thing. I guess great/twisted minds think alike! Zette ---
**Author:** ![Aguecheek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Aguecheek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aguecheek)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-crystals-certainly-help-my-driving/85671/33 "2001-10-08T14:22:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeep’s Phoenix \* > \*\*In North Carolina, it is a sort of fad for drivers of sports cars to hang a CD (or 5) from their rearview mirrors at varying heights, kind of like a mobile. It’s annoying as hell. \*\* A cop friend of mine told me that there’s a bit of an Urban Legend going around that CDs are supposed to mess around with radar guns. She laughs her ass off whenever she pulls them over for speeding, and they ask her how they were caught with the CD hanging from their rear view. ---
**Author:** ![heresiarch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@heresiarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heresiarch)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2001, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-crystals-certainly-help-my-driving/85671/34 "2001-10-09T07:53:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gatopescado \* > \*\*my damn wife had a crystal hangin’ from the mirror! i had to educate her on the many reasons this was a bad idea. (i always thought a damn cop was behind me flashin’!) > > it has been removed! \*\* When I first read the OP, I almost posted to say that I often mistake flashing crystals for police lights. But I thought it was just me. Thanks, **gato** , I guess I’m not as paranoid as I thought. [sub]Or at least there’s someone else as paranoid as me…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2001, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-crystals-certainly-help-my-driving/85671/35 "2001-10-09T23:18:29Z")
Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re NOT out to get you…remember that. Zette ---
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-crystals-certainly-help-my-driving/85671/36 "2001-10-10T05:22:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Best rearview accessory I’ve seen, on a friend’s car in high school: a little stuffed Winnie the Pooh. It was blindfolded, gagged, and its hands were tied behind its back, and it was hanging from a noose. I had something similar up once: a stuffed dragon from IKEA that I gagged, blindfolded, and hogtied. His eyes were open really wide and rolled to the left, so he looked really terrified. At first I hung it in co-workers cabinets at work, but then I put him on my rearview. Unfortunately, last winter someone shot up my ride (who shoots the window out of an 89 Oldsmobile Grande Royale? Obviously I’m poor, people, or I’d at least be driving a car from this decade that does NOT comfortably seat seven and require a special parking permit) and stole him. Yes, I am as amazed as you are. Currently, I have a Sunflower air freshener from Yankee Candle Company; a cool silver-plated bookmark with a quote from George Sand: “It is never too late to be who you might have been”; and a little clay jug hung from hemp that holds scented oil. Also, because of the massive width of my dash, I have a variety of small toys hot-glued to it. I hope that’s not illegal. As for the crystals, I have a friend who regularly converses with her crystal (they’ve worked out a code). When I pointed out the fact that it blinds other drivers, she just said, “I need to have it close so I can hear it when it starts to talk,” like I was the dumbest person ever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-crystals-certainly-help-my-driving/85671.md?page=1)