Holiday travel is usually about family, food, and long stretches of highway. For Lunchbox, it came with something else entirely: a moment on the road that was equal parts terrifying and unforgettable.
As the family drove into Houston over the holidays, spirits were high. Lunchbox’s wife, excited to be back in her hometown, smiled and said, “Welcome to Houston.” Less than a minute later, that welcome took on a very different meaning. While traveling at highway speed on I-10, roughly 70 to 75 miles per hour, Lunchbox suddenly heard a loud boom against the passenger-side window. At first, he thought it might be a gunshot. Then it happened again. And again. A man in the car next to them was leaning out of his driver-side window, steering with one hand and slapping Lunchbox’s passenger window with the other, while both vehicles were moving at full speed. Seconds later, the man accelerated and disappeared down the highway. No collision. No words exchanged. No explanation.
The car went silent. The kids immediately started asking questions. Why did he do that? What just happened? Lunchbox didn’t have answers, only the surreal realization that the moment had happened almost immediately after they’d arrived. “Welcome to Houston,” indeed. As the story unfolded, the obvious question came up: was there anything that might’ve provoked the encounter? A lane change? A honk? A close call? Lunchbox insists there was nothing, no sudden movements, no aggressive driving, no interaction at all. If anything, it seemed like a case of mistaken identity or displaced anger from an earlier incident on the road.
Regardless of the cause, the situation was frightening, especially with kids in the car. Even those listening who questioned the speed or details agreed on one thing: someone leaning out of a moving vehicle to slap another car’s window is dangerous by any standard. The conversation then widened into a broader reality of driving in major cities, particularly Houston, where aggressive driving stories are almost a genre of their own. And that’s when another story surfaced, this one even harder to shake.
Abby shared a moment from New Year’s Day around 1:30 a.m. in downtown Nashville. While crossing the street, she heard a loud impact and saw a man on a scooter sliding across the pavement after being hit by a car. She, her fiancé, and others rushed to him. He was unconscious at first, badly injured, and covered in road rash. When he came to, he began yelling in pain, a sound she said she’ll never forget. An ambulance arrived and took him away, but the image stayed with her.