Not drowning, waving

One of the things I like about living in the country is the way people wave to each other from their cars.  It's not a frenzied back and forth motion from the wrist or elbow that you might see people do when farewelling grandmothers at airports.  Nor is it the profane gesture frequently seen on city streets.  It's a simple extension of the four fingers from their resting place atop the steering wheel, and often just the index finger will do.

When I was small enough to only just see out the front window of the car, I often saw people wave to my Aged Mother as we were driving.  This would happen all the time at the bridge out of town on the way home, which was single laned and hence required cars travelling in one direction to give way.  The non-yielding driver would always raise a laconic finger as they whizzed by, to be matched by a similar slow twitch from the yielding driver.

"Why did they do that?  Is that person your friend?", I would ask.  My mother would explain that they were waving to say thank you for giving way.  I still see people doing it now from time to time - a simple gesture of thanks for obeying the road rules.  Considering how rare it is for other drivers to even acknowledge your existence unless you enrage them, I treasure these moments.  It makes me feel human.

And I've noticed something good: although not many people wave anymore, and it's mostly the old-timers who do, if I wave to another driver they'll almost always wave back.  I've decided to vastly increase the amount of waving I do in order to bring civility back to our roads.  Any time that someone could have crashed their car right into mine but didn't, they'll get a wave.

I think it'll be the next big thing.  Except in the US, where you get shot for that kind of thing.