The Wave and a Smile

Where I'm from, you let a driver cut in front of you, you are returned with kindness, by the gesture of a wave and a smile.

Where I live now, I might get 1-2 waves for every 10 acts of kindness.  Maybe. On a good day. What happened to the wave? Did it say goodbye and I didn't know it?

When stopping near a crosswalk, I hope to get a wave from the pedestrian. I know what you are thinking; I'm supposed to stop. I'm pretty religious at stopping at a crosswalk for a pedestrian. But a nice wave is a nice gesture. 

I always wave. I was in a cross walk tonight, and someone stopped, and I waved AND smiled. I got a nod in return. Can't complain about that.

I pull over on the side roads if a car is coming right at me. I never get a wave or a smile.  I sigh, become the better person and wave anyways even though I'm the one with the nice gesture. 

Driving to work, I always try to let at least one or two people in. About 10% of the time I'll get a wave. 5% of the time I might be lucky enough to get a wave and a smile. Whoo hoo!

And that brings me to the work parking lot. I work in a building that holds anywhere from 2000-5000 people on any given day. At 5pm sharp, it's like Fred Flintstone time! The whistle goes off, and it is a gridlock to get out of the parking lot. One would think there existed an unspoken common courtesy to your fellow coworkers in regards to parking lot etiquette. Every other car should go, even from 3 directions. Ummm, yea, it's every car for themselves. East Coast mentality at it's finest.

So, remember to give a wave and a smile to that nice driver who stops for you in the crosswalk, or let's you cut in front of them. I appreciate the wave, and I always smile and wave back!