Katrina S.
(Alias “Kat”)

Can it be possible for the lives of two very creative people to be influenced in a major way by dumb blond jokes? Yes, in fact that’s exactly what has happened. (See the Jessie C. story.) Consider the case of the extremely talented automobile designer, Ms. "Kat" S., whose ex­ceptional, creative plans have made her the most sought after and most highly paid auto designer in the business. She now presides over her own company which manufactures the world renown "Kitty‑Kat" car (the name being a combination of "Kitty," in memory of her favorite blond‑haired cat, and "Kat," a shortened version of her own name, Katrina).

Her interest in the area of auto design was started inadvertently one day in the extraordinary Creative Ex­pressions class taught by the Legendary Mr. Christopherson (who holds several of the more important patents in the field of auto design himself, by the way). Wherever she goes to speak, being invited to many middle school graduations to give her wonderful, inspiring life story, she inevitably tells the by now famous joke which got her started.

"A blond telephoned the police and told them someone stole her steering wheel, brake pedal, and even the entire dashboard out of her car. The cops said they'd be out to investigate right away and were about to leave when she telephoned back to say she was sorry and had just gotten into the back seat by mistake."

No one, except possibly the very Legendary Mr. Christopherson, could have possibly guessed that such a joke could lead to Katrina's fantastic future in the automotive world, yet this is exactly what has happened.

As she grew older, she became overwhelmed with the growing realization that more needed to be done for the so called "back seat driver." Many's the time that such people, forced to ride in the rear seat area, have seen the need to slow down, or perhaps steer to the left or right, and have expressed this to the driver, only to be told to shut up and leave the driving to the driver.

One evening, during her formative high school years, young Kat was sitting comfortably watching TV. The movie she viewed, "What's Up, Doc?," had just gotten past the lengthy, chaotic car chase near the end, when the girl fell into a troubled sleep. In her dream, she found herself driving a long limousine rapidly through the streets of San Francisco. A nightmarish quality was given to the dream because she soon discovered she was sitting in the back seat of the limo, driving it awkwardly by stretching over into the front seat area. However, she was not alone in the car! Someone with blond hair and large pointed ears was in the driver's seat and was trying to take over the car. Katrina was constantly forced to push this individual aside in order to regain control of the car. In a final frantic effort to establish herself as the driver of the vehicle, she ripped out the steering wheel and somehow managed to plug it into a convenient attachment in the rear seat area. She was then attacked by the blond from the front seat, forcing her to transfer her grip from the steering wheel to the neck of the offending party. The limo went out of control, careening off the road into a large bowl of popcorn. She awoke in a sweat, covered with popcorn, and found her hands tightly wrapped around the neck of her blond‑haired cat, Kitty. After a bit of a sulk, the cat stalked over to the aquarium, calming herself down with a quick game of Snag-The-Fish.

Well, one doesn't soon forget a dream like that! Ms. K. thought about the dream endlessly. What could it mean? Finally one day the connection was made in her mind‑‑the dream and the stupid blond joke. Of course, it was her subconscious trying to communicate with her, telling her that the world needed a car which would allow equal rights to oppressed back seat drivers the world over. She recognized her mission in life was to design such a car. The rest is history, as they say.

Upon completion of high school, Katrina enrolled immediately in Car College, only to find, after two year's study, the school got its name from its founder, one Hepsibah Car, and not from a desire to describe what one learns about there. She then switched schools, doing a bit more research beforehand this time, enrolling in Ford University, named after both a person and a car, and found the proper setting for her studies. The result has already been mentioned above: her own company and a very special car which meets her strict specification for backseat driving. The "Kitty‑Kat" has a complete set of controls‑‑steering wheel, foot pedals, and dashboard‑‑in the rear seat area, giving the backseat driver, for the first time, the ability to do more than just gripe about the driving techniques of the person in the front seat. Ms. S., back seat drivers of the world, along with damage claims attorneys, salute you for the genius you truly are!