A woman visiting a patient at a suburban Washington, D.C., hospital steps out of her car. As she turns she sees an old lady slumped over in the Lexus parked next to her.

The woman knocks on the glass. "Ma’am, you okay? Anything I can do?" There’s no response.

The woman runs to the hospital entrance and tells a uniformed guard. The guard taps his stick on the glass but gets no response.

Using his walkie-talkie, the guard calls the nearby fire and rescue unit. Moments later, they’re unable to get a response. A fireman yells to the old lady, "Cover your face, ma’am," as he smashes the window with a steel bar.

The rescue team opens the door only to find the old lady has no legs, or arms—only a head, gray wig, and a torso. Actually, she’s half of a mannequin dressed to look like an old lady.

"Do I have egg on my face?" asks the firemen. Nobody’s laughing. The fireman call the county police.

Meanwhile, the hospital guard locates the car’s owner. She’s Margo who works in human resources.

Arriving in the parking lot, Margo is shocked and embarrassed when she sees the smashed window and the dummy of her old lady companion. "I can explain," says Margo.

A cop answers, "We’re counting on that."

"I use the dummy for security," she says, "so I won’t look alone in my car."

"You use an old lady dummy for security?" the cop asks, shaking his head. Then the cop asks, "Do you drive to work in the HOV lanes? Is that the reason for the dummy? So you’ll qualify for the HOV during the rush hour—and not get a ticket?"

I should explain that HOV stands for "High Occupancy Vehicles," meaning only vehicles with two or more people may use the fast traveling lanes during the rush hour.

Of course, Margo denies using the HOV lanes. No citation is issued, but she’s so embarrassed the matter of "who’s going to pay for the busted window" never comes up.