A man hitchhiking on a dark and stormy night jumps in a stopped car, then realizes there's nobody in the driver's seat. Imagine his surprise when the vehicle starts moving and a disembodied arm reaches in through the window to steer!
Description: Email joke / Urban legend
Circulating since: Oct. 2002 (online versions)
Status: False (see details below)
Example #1:
Email text contributed by Yvonne F., Oct. 18, 2002:
This happened in a little town in New Mexico, and even though it sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock tale, it's absolutely true!
This guy was on the side of the road hitch hiking on a very dark night and in the middle of a storm. The night was cold and wet and no car went by. The storm was so strong he could hardly see a few feet ahead of him. Suddenly, he saw a car coming towards him and stop. The guy, without thinking about it, got in the car and closed the door - and only then realized that there's nobody behind the wheel!
The car starts very slowly. The guy looks at the road and sees a curve coming his way. Scared, he starts to pray, begging for his life. He hasn't come out of shock when, just before the car hits the curve, a hand appears thru the window and moves the wheel. The guy, paralyzed in terror, watched how the hand appears every time they are approaching a curve. The guy, gathering strength, gets out of the car and runs all the way to the nearest town.
Wet and in shock he goes into a cantina, asks for two shots of tequila, and starts telling everybody about the horrible experience he just went through. A silence enveloped everybody when they realize the guy was crying hysterically and wasn't drunk.
About half an hour later two guys walked into the same cantina and one said to the other... "Mira, Pedro, that's the Pendejo that got in the car while we were pushing it!"
Happy Halloween!!
Example #2:
Email text contributed by Franco B., Apr. 12, 2007:
FW: Newfoundland ghost story
This happened in a little town, Norris Arm, in Newfoundland and even though it sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock tale, it's absolutely true.
This guy was on the side of the road hitchhiking on a very dark night in the middle of a terrible rainstorm, and no cars were on the road. The storm was so strong the guy could hardly see a few feet ahead of him. Suddenly, he saw a car come toward him and stop.The guy, without thinking about it, got in the car and closed the door and only then did he realize that there was nobody behind the wheel!
The car started to move very slowly. The guy looked at the road and saw a curve coming his way. Petrified, he started to pray, begging for his life. He had not come out of shock when, just before the car hit the curve, a hand suddenly appeared through the window and moved the steering wheel. The guy, now paralyzed in terror, watched how the hand appeared every time the car was approaching a curve.Finally, although terrified, the guy managed to open the door and jump out of the spooky car. Without looking back, the guy ran through the storm all the way to the nearest town.
Soaking wet exhausted and in a state of utter shock the pale, visibly shaken guy, walked into a nearby bar and asked for two shots of Screech.Then, still trembling with fright, he started telling everybody in the bar about the horrible experience he just went through with the spooky car with no driver and the mysterious hand that kept appearing.
Everyone in the bar listed in silence and became frightened, listening to this eerie story, hairs stood on end when they realized the guy was telling the truth because he was crying and he definitely was not drunk!
About half an hour later two guys walked into the same bar and one said to the other, "Lard Thundern Jasus, me son, there's the arsehole who got into the car while we were pushing it!"
Analysis: A classic case of "too good to be true." Though some folks may find the above scenario plausible, it isn't really. It's a carefully structured joke, with special attention paid to setting up the conditions (i.e., a "terrible rainstorm" on a "very dark night," during which he "could hardly see a few feet ahead of him") whereby a desperate hitchhiker might mistake a pushed car for a driven one and "without thinking" jump into it.
Note, too, the clever feint toward supernaturalism as the hitchhiker realizes there's no one in the driver's seat, then the car begins to move, and then every time it approaches a curve a disembodied arm reaches in the window to steer.
None of which, unless you believe ghosts can drive cars, makes any sense at all except as a set-up for the clever and infinitely malleable punch line, of which I've collected several more illustrative examples from around the Web for your enjoyment:
- "Look, Paddy... there's that fooking idiot that got in the car while we were pushing it!!!!"
- "Bheka, Mfowetu, that's the idiot that got into the car while we were pushing it."
- “Look, Jethro, there's that idiot who rode in our car while we were pushing it when it was raining.”
- "Look, Billy, that's the character who climbed into the car while we were pushing it."
- "Hey, look, guys, it's him: the man who jumped into our car while we were pushing it."
- "Look, Jim, there's the jerk who climbed into our car while we were pushing it."
- "Are you the man who got into our car while we were pushing it?"
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Don't forget to tip your waitress.
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Last updated 03/16/11
