Freak Of The Week: Viva Zapata!

A few months ago, they had to install concrete pillars in front of my local Trader Joe’s after a senior citizen put it in D instead of R and plowed straight through the floral section.  Because of that, I’m often on high alert when passing the handicapped zone. Gotta watch those naughty seniors!  But today, I pulled in and saw this:

A VW Squareback with a pair of grey hairs.  Fair enough. Then I started sniffing something freaky. Between the Rage Against The Machine sticker (grandkids?) and ‘Ya Basta’ (their bowling league?) blazing across the back, it gets really interesting.  Then I see the driver, a groovy older gentleman, open up his driver side door to reveal this:

Holy guacamole kids, that’s Subcomandante Marcos!  What the heck is some white senior in Woodland Hills doing celebrating the Zapatistas?  Then it gets even weirder, as his gorgeous wife shows up and opens her door to reveal this:

Of course, this is the point in the story where I drag my 8-year-old across the asphalt to talk to these people.  She calls me a ‘stalker’ and empty promises of ice cream ensue.  But I digress.

If you’re reading this from somewhere far from Los Angeles like Copenhagen, Qatar, or Connecticut, you think that Marcos & Zapata are characters from an old Western film. Or perhaps Viva Zapata is the name of your local Mexican restaurant. But these are two infamous badass Mexican rebels– one started the Zapatista movement (take a wild guess which one) & the other brought it forth into the 21st century. Now I’m no history teacher, but I’m still missing the part about them coming to Woodland Hills and enlisting white dudes.

So I ask.  Turns out, they’re a couple of VW enthusiasts and found this car especially interesting when buying it from a Mexican guy in Ventura County. Ya think? They were so inspired by the existing artwork, that they kept it.  So now, they cruise around with a dash that screams, Revolution! and a bumper that declares: ‘Enough is Enough’– and I guarantee you, the last thing this couple is doing is bowling.

I don’t know about you kids, but this is how I want to enter my 70s.  Not in a Lincoln town car with tri-focals, orthopedic shoes and bumper that declares something righteous.. about Medicare.  I want to go in guns blazing (did I mention the AK47 pictured in the back seat?), embracing all that is rebellious and wonderful in this world.  Enough is enough!