the orange submarine

editor's note: i wrote this a few weeks back but never posted.

the sub i saw was MUCH bigger than this but about the same color.

picture this: i'm driving down I-10 on wednesday after school. It's around 6 pm, gray and cold outside, with weather reports on everyone minds’. It's below freezing, and supposed to be icing/snowing the following day.

I glance to my right as I, per usual, change lanes frequently and weave through traffic. And what do I see? A giant, bright orange submarine being towed on the bed of an 18 wheeler. Though it's a super-tall, super-duty 18 wheeler because the orange submarine is just that HUGE.

So, I sent a text message to a few people I figured would find this amusing. A) my roommate, stephie, because even if she doesn't find it amusing, as my roommate she's required to (and really good at) putting up with my weird announcements.

B) my brother, my dad, my uncle, and a few others.

I should have kept my discovery to myself and just told stephanie when I got home. Because almost immediately my crazy brother and uncle are calling and texting to inform me that I am wrong. My uncle called me "Einstein" and said he was sure that was an "escape pod" used on oil rigs and "not really" a submarine but "if you want it to be a submarine, it can be a submarine, sweetie."

My brother wanted to correct me. "It's not a submarine. It's an open ocean lifeboat for supertankers. It's watertight but is not submersible."

Who are you two?! Coastal watercraft experts?
You didn't see it. You don't know. And last time I checked neither of you work for the US Coast Guard. Can't you just let me have my moment?

It. was. a. submarine. Deal. with. it.