Punch buggy is a rather
sadistic car ritual, though also possibly the most
entertaining for the above reason.
Most simply, when a
Volkswagen Bug is spotted, the first person to shout out it's color earns the right to
punch somebody in the
shoulder.
But that's just the simple
explanation. Since it deals in
pain, there is a complex system of
safeguards to protect other
passengers. These are of coarse not set in stone, but pretty much follow the
house rules, (or car rules in our case).
In some cases
all bets are off, he who shouts the color gets to punch anybody. Sometimes you must say "punch buggy" before the color, or you don't earn the punch. It then goes to the somebody else who actually does say punch buggy.
For safety the
driver is usually protected from all
punching, at the expense that he may not punch anybody else. Though punches may be
reserved for after the car has stopped.
In other cases only those in the
back seat may punch, those in the front seat are
excluded from the game. For
convenience you may only be allowed to punch only whoever is sitting beside you.
After you say punch buggy, though before you punch, somebody may yell "Car safety", disallowing you to punch them. So you have to act fast. Others may just cross their fingers, which basically means the same thing, except they're
vulnerable again after they uncross them.
In some cases you don't need to
identify the color, just say "punch buggy". Or you might not need to say punch buggy, you just need to identify the color.
Some people don't even
require you see the bug itself, just say the color. This works with those who aren't thinking, or just getting used to the ritual:
"Hey look, a
VW bug!"
"Huh, were? Was it
yellow,
blue,
black,
red,
pink,
white,
avocado or
silver?"
"Uh, ya. it was yellow..."
"Oh good. Punch buggy yellow!" *Punch*
Please keep in mind Punch buggy is not as
complex as it sounds. There are just a hell of a lot of ways people
play.