We’ve all read stories about how inanimate objects take on a life of their own. There is the story of the travelling gnome. There are books that are set to the wild. We can now add HOV Mannequins to this list.
We all know (I hope) that a stuffed mannequin is not an acceptable second passenger for an HOV lane. According to the New York Times, Greg Pringle learned this the hard way. After ridesharing for allmost a year with Tillie, a mannequin wearing powder blue scrubs and a gray sweatshirt stuffed with newspaper, topped with a Styrofoam head, he was pulled over by the police in January 2006 and charged with driving illegally in a lane with a one-passenger minimum.
His fine? $115, plus he had to stand with Tillie for four hours at a busy intersection holding a sign: “HOV lane is not for dummies.” He also was ordered to sell Tillie at auction, with the proceeds going to Alive at 25, a National Safety Council program. He did this, netting the program $15,000.
Tillie was bought by Video Professor, a company based in Denver that sells online computer tutorials. The company plans to spruce Tillie up a bit, hold another auction and also donate the proceeds to Alive at 25. But it doesn’t end there. According to a company spokescritter, the idea is to keep Tillie on the straight and narrow raising money for good causes. The new buyer will be encouraged to give the mannequin another makeover and put it on the block again, and so on.
So, if you see on eBay a mannequin who looks like she’s been on the road too long, consider adopting her for a short while. Your commute won’t be shorter, but you might do some good.
