What a nut job! I\u2019m sure that\u2019s what strangers think when they drive by me as I walk through town and I wave to them. Or, on the other hand, \u201cWhat a snob,\u201d when friends wave from their cars and I don\u2019t wave back. Both are right; Nut Job, Snob, but, it\u2019s not me; it\u2019s them, or rather, their cars. They all look alike, all SUVs look alike, all sedans look alike. Different makes of automobiles are hardly distinguishable. I can\u2019t tell a Ford from a Mercedes. Not in a quick glance anyhow. In the good old days (here comes the old coot in me) when cars had a distinctive shape, color scheme (2 and 3 tones if you can imagine that) and the glass was clear; you could identify the car and more important, you could see who was inside. And, correctly wave, or not.<\/p>\n
So, here I am, walking around in a world where half the time I wave at cars I think might be driven by someone I know, but they aren\u2019t. And, get labeled, that \u201cNut Job\u201d in Owego who waves to cars. The other half of the time, I don\u2019t wave when I should. When I take a stroll up Davis Hill (struggle and gasp my way up is a more accurate description) cars wiz by so fast I never get a good glimpse in the window, so I wave to every car. It\u2019s a self-defense gesture, a thank-you for not hitting me. After I\u2019ve climbed for a few minutes, I don\u2019t wave to anyone; I\u2019m too tired to raise my arm. <\/p>\n
We need a rule, a societal norm, that says a person driving a car, who sees someone they know walking on the sidewalk should give the horn a toot to say hello, not just a wave. Then, old coots like me, and regular people too, can wave back. We still may not know who we\u2019re waving to, but at least we won\u2019t feel quite so stupid, waving when we shouldn\u2019t, not waving when we should. <\/p>\n
If you adopt this suggestion, despite the fact it\u2019s coming from an old coot and not Ms. Manners or Emily Post, you might want to practice tooting. It\u2019s not easy to produce a friendly sounding honk. That air bag squished into the middle of your steering wheel makes it hard to produce a polite, \u201cToot\u201d. Quite often, you get no result at all, panic, and slam on the horn, producing a loud, angry blast. It startles the recipient, not at all the friendly, \u201cHi there,\u201d you were shooting for. Here\u2019s the deal. You toot, I\u2019ll wave. Even if it\u2019s a mistaken identity. I won\u2019t be a snob anymore and I won\u2019t be that nut job that waves at all the cars. It\u2019s enough of a burden just being an old coot. <\/p>\n