The World Needs More Biker Waves

The Wave

You've probably seen it. Someone on a motorcycle reaching their left hand out or down, making you (a

Shamelessly borrowed from
www.ThisLadyRides.com

driver in a cage) think the bike is about to change lanes or something. If you're particularly observant you've noticed that there's someone on a motorcycle coming the other direction making the same odd hand signal. What the hell is going on? Is this some sort of gang sign? An acknowledgment of another member of the Illuminati? No, not really. It's just a wave. Just sayin' hey. If you don't ride (or, I guess, drive a Jeep. As a former Jeep driver I can tell you they tend to do something similar) you probably won't get it. That's ok, you don't have to. Why does it matter? Well, we live in kind of nasty times. I'm not talking about the stuff going on in the Middle East, the rise of socialism in Europe, or the non-existent plans to steal your guns right here in the U.S. I'm talking about the polarization around what ever wild hair someone happens to have up his or her ass at any given moment. I'm talking about the apparent inability to act in a civil manner, or just keep your damn mouth shut about certain subjects when you know damn well those around you don't agree. I'm talking about the refusal to live and let live simply because one party is convinced that the other party is somehow doing it wrong.

The Wave doesn't mean much. It doesn't mean one rider knows another rider. It doesn't mean that one rider even likes the other. There's no implication of a relationship, or an implied acceptance of the other's religious or political beliefs. It's just one person on a two wheeled noisy machine saying to the other, "hey!" And the other person on the other two wheeled noisy machine saying, "yeah, I get it!" 

It doesn't matter if it's a cop, a member of a 3 patch mc, a commuter, or a weekend warrior. It's two random people acknowledging that for a passing couple of seconds they're sharing the same awesome headspace, they're in it together, and the world is an awesome place. 

There. Now doesn't that feel better than your bitchy little political Facebook post?