SeidBunnie
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Wentzville, MO
Can you believe the nerve of this guy...hahaha.
STL Post Dispatch
SOCIETY: Please: Don't wave at me.
By Steve Robinson
12/20/2005
I drive a Jeep. A beat-up 1997 Jeep Wrangler with torn seats and a lousy radio. It seems I got more than just a car when I bought it; I also got a membership in a Jeep "club."
Seems that Jeep owners are inclined to go to something called Camp Jeep, Jeep Jamborees and Extreme Jeep Weekends where they try to kill themselves on impassable mountain trails.
The ad campaign says, "It's a Jeep thing. You wouldn't understand." I guess I don't, and I don't really want to.
Apparently, one of the tenets of Jeep Club is that I'm supposed to wave to other Jeeps, although not necessarily to Cherokees or Libertys. Just to drivers of other Wranglers and Rubicons and CJs. Don't ask why. (It's a Jeep thing.) I would just appreciate it if other Jeep owners would stop waving at me.
I don't join anything easily. I'm not someone who goes out of my way to help strangers when they seem to be doing perfectly fine without my help. Oh, I'd give a friend a ride to work or jump a dead battery (assuming they had the necessary cables), but generally I don't feel like I'm in a Care Bear movie, and I certainly have never felt compelled to wave to strangers.
On the Internet, where you can find someone saying anything about everything, I found a blogger who referred to the Jeep Wave as an example of how Jeep owners celebrate their shared experiences. That creeps me out. I still get a Christmas card every year from the dealer where I bought the car. That creeps me out, too.
Another blogger describes in detail his two favorite waving techniques. In one, he "casually" ("casually" as opposed to frantically) puts his right palm on the steering wheel and raises four fingers. For the other method, he raises only his index finger but then adds a purposeful nod.
I'm tempted to raise a finger when these guys wave at me, but I don't do it; I don't want to get beat up. Instead, I usually just ignore them. I don't establish eye contact. I wear my sunglasses and pull my sun visor down. If I'm feeling especially sympathetic, I might even act as if I'm too busy or unable to wave: "Sorry, I'd really like to wave, but I've got to answer my cell." Or: "Sorry, I'm too busy looking for a station on my lousy radio to wave at you."
I remember learning about the need-for-shared-experiences thing in college. It's one of the cultural forces that help explain sporting events, concerts, church, Sam's Club. If it's really that important, maybe I should try to embrace it:
"No kidding, your 12-year-old son just spent four days illegally downloading the entire first season of 'Lost' from the Internet? Mine did, too! Last week, your 13-year-old threw dirt onto the hood of a teacher's car while working on an outdoor science class project? So did mine! Do you also worry about the world that you're leaving your kids? Do you worry that you're not spending enough time with them? Do you worry that you don't have enough time left? Do you find "normal" becoming less and less the older you get? Did your marriage end in divorce, too? Did your fiancee leave, calling your relationship 'an endless list of recurring problems'? Does it bother you that if your former wife and ex-fiancee both had Jeeps, neither one would wave at you? Me, too!"
I worry about all these things and more. But when it comes to other Jeep drivers, I figure all we have in common is lousy gas mileage.
Steve Robinson of Clayton is a freelance writer.
STL Post Dispatch
SOCIETY: Please: Don't wave at me.
By Steve Robinson
12/20/2005
I drive a Jeep. A beat-up 1997 Jeep Wrangler with torn seats and a lousy radio. It seems I got more than just a car when I bought it; I also got a membership in a Jeep "club."
Seems that Jeep owners are inclined to go to something called Camp Jeep, Jeep Jamborees and Extreme Jeep Weekends where they try to kill themselves on impassable mountain trails.
The ad campaign says, "It's a Jeep thing. You wouldn't understand." I guess I don't, and I don't really want to.
Apparently, one of the tenets of Jeep Club is that I'm supposed to wave to other Jeeps, although not necessarily to Cherokees or Libertys. Just to drivers of other Wranglers and Rubicons and CJs. Don't ask why. (It's a Jeep thing.) I would just appreciate it if other Jeep owners would stop waving at me.
I don't join anything easily. I'm not someone who goes out of my way to help strangers when they seem to be doing perfectly fine without my help. Oh, I'd give a friend a ride to work or jump a dead battery (assuming they had the necessary cables), but generally I don't feel like I'm in a Care Bear movie, and I certainly have never felt compelled to wave to strangers.
On the Internet, where you can find someone saying anything about everything, I found a blogger who referred to the Jeep Wave as an example of how Jeep owners celebrate their shared experiences. That creeps me out. I still get a Christmas card every year from the dealer where I bought the car. That creeps me out, too.
Another blogger describes in detail his two favorite waving techniques. In one, he "casually" ("casually" as opposed to frantically) puts his right palm on the steering wheel and raises four fingers. For the other method, he raises only his index finger but then adds a purposeful nod.
I'm tempted to raise a finger when these guys wave at me, but I don't do it; I don't want to get beat up. Instead, I usually just ignore them. I don't establish eye contact. I wear my sunglasses and pull my sun visor down. If I'm feeling especially sympathetic, I might even act as if I'm too busy or unable to wave: "Sorry, I'd really like to wave, but I've got to answer my cell." Or: "Sorry, I'm too busy looking for a station on my lousy radio to wave at you."
I remember learning about the need-for-shared-experiences thing in college. It's one of the cultural forces that help explain sporting events, concerts, church, Sam's Club. If it's really that important, maybe I should try to embrace it:
"No kidding, your 12-year-old son just spent four days illegally downloading the entire first season of 'Lost' from the Internet? Mine did, too! Last week, your 13-year-old threw dirt onto the hood of a teacher's car while working on an outdoor science class project? So did mine! Do you also worry about the world that you're leaving your kids? Do you worry that you're not spending enough time with them? Do you worry that you don't have enough time left? Do you find "normal" becoming less and less the older you get? Did your marriage end in divorce, too? Did your fiancee leave, calling your relationship 'an endless list of recurring problems'? Does it bother you that if your former wife and ex-fiancee both had Jeeps, neither one would wave at you? Me, too!"
I worry about all these things and more. But when it comes to other Jeep drivers, I figure all we have in common is lousy gas mileage.
Steve Robinson of Clayton is a freelance writer.
:01of5:
