Tara Monroe, a 20-year-old student at Texas State University, got a DWI after refusing to take a breathalyzer following a performance by noted hip-hopian Waka Flocka Flame. She therefore took the only logical step, transportation-wise, and began driving a Barbie Jeep around campus.
Though she has a bicycle, Monroe is staunchly anti-bike: “Riding a bike around campus sucks,” she told MySanAntonio.com. “Like really sucks.” And, to be fair to her, Texas State is located in San Marcos TX, where the average daytime high temperature this week is 97 degrees. That is not optimal bike-riding weather–it’s far from impossible; bikes do generate breeze, after all, but it’s not ideal.
So, what was Monroe to do, after her father took her car away from her following the DWI, and left her with a mere bicycle for transportation? She thought about it, cruised Craigslist, bought a Barbie Jeep for $60 from a little girl named Charlene, named the vehicle after the little girl, and became Barbie Jeep Girl, an internet sensation:
Barbie Jeep Girl is a legend. #TXST19#TXSTpic.twitter.com/Z2zZQjESxL — c l a r y (@_c_l_a_r_y_) September 3, 2015
In case you are interested to know, the car’s top speed with its mostly-adult cargo onboard is a sedate five miles per hour. Monroe says that’s a little much, even for her: “It goes pretty fast when it’s just me,” she said, “so I usually make [my friends] walk behind me like parents taking their kid out to play. I’m just happy everyone thinks this is so hilarious.”
And the Barbie Jeep Girl is happy to be getting as much attention as she is:
Most people don’t find the things me and my friends do very funny, just immature, so I didn’t expect to get this big of a reaction. People who don’t know me are shocked but my friends weren’t even surprised because I do stuff like this all the time….This is the best way I could have gotten my 15 minutes of fame. Basically, it was the best decision I’ve made in college, yet.
(Photo credits: Barbie Jeep girl via @_c_l_a_r_y_ on Twitter)
