A while back, I noticed a jeep in a parking lot here in Stuart, Florida with a large number of rubber ducks on the dashboard. My first thought was "Here is a true eccentric." But then I noticed another jeep with ducks on the dash, too. The more I looked, the more jeeps with rubber duckies I saw. Was this just a Florida thing? Of course, I did research on the internet, which these days has an accuracy rate of 99.9%, and found that this phenomenon is known as "ducking." It started in July 2020 when a jeep owner named Allison Parliament, trying to spread a little happiness during the COVID pandemic, left a rubber duck on a stranger's jeep with a note that said "Nice Jeep." From this came a popular tradition called "ducking." Many jeep owners keep a supply of rubber ducks in their car so they can leave them on other jeep owner's cars, the purpose of which is to foster "camaraderie within the jeep community" and spread kindness and a sense of belonging among jeep owners. Many of these owners collect rubber ducks and put them on their dashboards, which they call "duck ponds," as seen in the photograph above. Evidently, this has now become a global movement. I don't remember seeing duckies on the dash in Denver, but will definitely check it out when I get back there. It does sound a bit like a cult to me, but what do I know?
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