the wave...

Hiya!

All cultures and groups have different ways of saying hello, whether it’s a wave, a handshake or a shouted greeting. I have two North American greetings that I find strange and wonder their origins.

The first greeting is the “farmer wave”. I’m not sure if farmers are lazy or what, but typically this wave involves the use of 2 fingers. Imagine yourself driving a car (or truck), gripping the wheel with one or both hands, right hand positioned at about 2 o’clock. Going past a vehicle driving in the opposite direction you casually lift the index and middle fingers from their grip on the wheel, while keeping your thumb and remaining fingers securely on the wheel. Some of the energetic farmers might even lift their entire hand off the wheel while keeping the aforementioned “pose”, their thumb held naturally and their ring and pinkie fingers slightly bent.
Think you got it in you? Practice it a bit... The trick is your facial expression, really. You don’t smile, you don’t nod, you just keep a neutral expression on face like nothing in the world is phasing you and give your wave. There, now you are practically a farmer!
Jokes aside, I forgot about the camaraderie amongst people in the farming community. Farmers young and old wave at me driving in my little red Honda car and it makes my heart warm, like a stranger in the world cares about me, or wants to add a little extra something to my day. Thanks to everyone out there who has given me the “farmer wave”.

The second greeting is the “motorcyclist wave”. I’ve dated two guys who drive motorcycles and both of them have explained to me how the bike community has a wave to signify camaraderie amongst themselves. I don’t know the origin of the wave, but it seems to be worldwide. Because I don’t drive a bike myself, I’ve only seen this wave done, but it is essentially a “peace sign” executed by the driver with the left hand held beside the handle bars. I really like the idea that this wave is universal, joining all motorcyclists. Where was this wave invented? How long did it take to catch on?

The over-arching theme here is the friendship that exists between people and I really like this. Despite people not knowing each other, they still acknowledge one other, something that society has forgotten about. We walk through our lives: the grocery store, the apartment block hallway, the street, caught up in our own lives and rarely acknowledge those around us. It’s sad, really.