The Demise of the Southern Car Wave



I hear tell there are parts of the country where drivers don’t give each other a cheerful wave as they pass on the road. Since I’ve lived in the South all my life, I think it’s odd when someone drives past and doesn’t wave. I always figured they were from another part of the country and hadn’t learned our ways, yet.

I was big time wrong. Even people who should know better aren’t bothering to wave. Why? Because they’re too gosh darn busy talking on their cell phone.
And not the hands-free talking type of set-up, no, most people have the phone plastered to their ear because the Alabama legislature hasn’t deemed it worthwhile to ban the use of cell phones while driving. Although bless their pea-picking hearts, they did enact a no texting law.

And I appreciate that law tremendously. Who wants to share the road with some driver who is looking at a tiny screen and typing on a tiny keyboard instead of looking at the road, the other cars, the pedestrians, the signs, the bushes and trees, the dog in the road, the motorcyclist changing lanes, the red light up ahead...guess I could go on forever with that list!

Plus, I can’t for the life of me figure out how anyone can use that tiny keyboard while standing still, much less while driving a car.

And they really can’t text and drive or else they wouldn’t be having accidents right and left and there wouldn’t be any “distracted driver” statistics for the news.

Some folks have invented a compromise and wave their pinkie at you as they drive past. That way they can keep right on talking, wave and have one hand on the wheel. 

I like the part about them having one hand on the wheel so I’m not going to tell them that pinkie wave ain’t much of a howdy-do wave.

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