That's why they call it the Emergency Brake!

So this afternoon, I (Bridge) was being a model of efficiency.  In an effort to decrease the errand-running and bridge-crossing, I picked up Lucy a bit early from school, then together we picked up Carter from the groomer's, then all together, we went to Shaw Farm, where we usually go once a week to get our milk and eggs.

Here's what happened next:

We left Carter in the car while Lucy and I went inside with our empty bottles.  It was a quick exchange of empties for fresh full ones; we paid and headed back to the car.  Carter had clearly attracted the attention of the young man in the car parked next to ours, and they appeared to be entertaining each other quite well.  I asked Lucy to stay on the sidewalk, while I opened the front door of the car and put the eggs and milk inside.  She squealed with glee, watching Carter bound about the car, very excited to see us (you'd think we'd been gone for hours).  Carter was very worked up, and bounded into the front seat just as I closed the door.

I called Lucy, opened the back door, and popped her into her seat.  This is where things went crazy.  While I was working to get Lucy strapped into her seat, Carter was positively going crazy in the front seat, too excited to be still, just pacing and bounding and jumping.

Somehow, in all his chaos, he disengaged the emergency break, which sits in between the driver and passenger seat.  The car began to roll backwards, with the back passenger door open and me halfway inside, half on top of Lucy.

It was crazy.  The man in the car beside us jumped out of his car with a horrified look, but clearly wasn't going to be able to do anything.  Carter was jumping around, and Lucy was squealing with delight (she had no idea that rolling backwards, with no control, in a parking lot, was a problem).  I threw myself farther into the car, fumbled around a bit, and managed to grab the emergency break, pulling it with everything I had.  The car came to a stop, about a full car-length behind where it had started.

No damage.  Thankfully, no other cars were pulling in at that instant.

The man in the car beside us was shaking his head, his eyes wide.  He kept saying "I can't believe that happened!"  I felt the same.  He told me I should go buy a lottery ticket.  Hilarious.  A bit shaky, we drove home, with Lucy delightedly talking about how Carter drove the car.

So, let's add that to his resume: Carter the dog, the famous movie star, once drove a car.