Slight Detour – November 2025

Sometimes it takes a little outside-the-box thinking to tackle a problem. However, a Canadian man recently discovered his unorthodox solution wasn’t enough to keep him out of hot water.

We start this Slight Detour in Prince George, British Columbia, where officials recently arrested a man driving a pink toy Barbie truck down city streets around 9 in the morning.

When I first read the headline, I didn’t want to rush to judgment. Sure, it seemed a bit unusual, but maybe this dude had a perfectly good reason to be tooling along in a child’s toy during rush hour.

It turns out, he did not.

According to police, the driver of the motorized Barbie car had a suspended license and was “likely impaired” – which makes a lot more sense than him just having car troubles and needing to find a ride to work. Two subsequent breathalyzer tests would conclude he was, in fact, over the legal limit.

I’m sure he’s not the first person to have one too many and then try to drive a kid’s Power Wheels. And if I’m being honest, just thinking about it sounds like a lot of fun to me – but it’s probably best to keep that kind of activity confined to your own backyard.

The driver was arrested for prohibited driving and issued a 90-day driving suspension. He will find out his fate in court later this year. I assume he’ll be wearing the Barbie prison collection, complete with jumpsuit and matching ankle bracelet.

Old trusty let him down

Speaking of outside-the-box thinking: A trucker recently learned he would be spending the next few years behind bars after trying to use a little “number one” to get himself out of some “number two.”

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, a 50-year-old trucker was recently sentenced to 36 months in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute over 23 kilos of cocaine.

The drugs were uncovered at the Sarita Border Patrol checkpoint when a K-9 unit alerted agents to possible contraband, prompting a secondary inspection. Prosecutors said the driver “delayed exiting” the vehicle and “poured a jug of urine inside the cab in an attempt to mask the odor of narcotics.”

Apparently, this wasn’t enough to throw the dogs off the scent of a giant pile of cocaine. Officials discovered 22 bundles concealed under the sleeper bed, along with chili powder used to “disguise the smell of narcotics.” Guess this guy is now 0-2 when it comes to trying to trick drug-sniffing dogs.

Now, anyone outside of trucking would certainly question why this dude had such a plentiful supply of urine on the ready. But you know why. Sometimes nature calls, man. While the “piss jug” has certainly come in handy in a pinch for truckers before, it does have its limits, and it’s best not to test them.

Never too old for a good prank

Our next stop on this Slight Detour is a good example of how a childish prank can go sideways in a hurry.

Police in South Carolina recently arrested a man believed to be responsible for “creating a foul odor” at a local high school. Now, as someone who created his fair share of foul odors in high school, I had no idea this was against the law.

But as it turns out, unlike my own foul odors, this one wasn’t a natural occurrence.

According to the Florence County Sheriff’s Department, a teaching assistant at West Florence High School allegedly used “an internet-acquired spray designed to imitate fecal odor” to bombard the nasal passages of unsuspecting victims.

Investigators said the 32-year-old teaching assistant used the spray on multiple occasions, resulting in a “disruption of the school, children requiring medical attention for respiratory issues and requiring the school to incur an expenditure of over $55,000 for inspection and damage to the school air conditioning system.”

It’s unclear why this man-child decided to use the spray in the first place, but I think parents were right to make a stink about this.

The suspect was charged with disturbing schools and malicious injury to property. It is wild to think about possibly doing time for this. The crime would definitely make for an interesting conversation when your new cellmate asks, “What are you in for?”

That’s pea-nuts!

We round out this Slight Detour with a stop in Trenton, N.J., where a spilled load of candy has raised some “serious” questions.

According to the Knowlton Township Fire and Rescue, crews were recently dispatched to the scene of a collision along Interstate 80 involving two tractor-trailers. Officials said one of the trucks was parked when the driver of the other semi rear-ended the parked vehicle, “tearing open both box trailers and spilling cargo over the roadway.”

The precious cargo that littered the interstate was a load of peanut M&Ms.

Now, before we go any further, both drivers walked away from the incident intact, and no injuries were reported. So that’s good news. However, as an avid lover of the peanut M&M, this is a real tragedy.

What an absolute waste. I hope whoever is in charge of “destroying” them does the right thing here and finds the M&Ms a good home. I’m sure their candy shells will keep them safe.

To make matters worse, this incident happened in late September, one month away from Halloween. That’s time for peanut M&Ms to shine. You hate to see good candy taken out before it could realize its full potential.

Not surprisingly, there were plenty of folks in the comment section of the fire department’s Facebook post offering to help with the clean-up.

It is crazy to me that it was only peanut M&Ms. Are they shipped separately for a reason? Are they manufactured in a separate place? Did some eccentric billionaire order a bunch to fill a swimming pool? Unfortunately, the reports didn’t dive into such pressing issues. Maybe I need to do a little digging of my own.

In a final wrinkle, Land Line Senior Editor Mark Schremmer pointed out to me that perhaps this lends credence to the claim that Left Twix and Right Twix are manufactured in different factories. My mind was blown. There’s no telling how deep this rabbit hole goes. LL