Whatever happened to...

...the courtesy wave whilst driving?  In case you have forgotten what this is, it's when one car waves first to allow the other to know they see them and that it is safe to go and the second car waves back as if to say "thanks! Have a splendid day." This simple act of kindness could occur as someone allows you to merge, turn first, proceed through an intersection first or as someone stops for you to turn out of a parking lot and into traffic. 

I seem to remember the courtesy wave being an almost everyday occurrence when my parents drove me around as a child.  Have we all gotten so busy and rushed in our lives that the wave is now lost?  Perhaps we are all now such crappy drivers that we have nothing to wave about.  I for one have deiced to do my part in bringing back the courtesy wave.  I think its the least I can do to bring a little love back to the lives of the drivers I share the road with, as well as my own.

Oh and I have also noticed that there are other states in the US where people still do the courtesy wave.  What's up with that Cali?  Not cool.  I hate that we fit into the stereotypes that are already in place about this state.  Time to dust off the 'ol wave and get to shaking it!

What would you do

Tonight as I was driving home, I called 9-1-1 to report the following incident. 

I was cruising down Highway 50 westbound in the fast lane and I saw up ahead there was a smaller sedan at a dead stand still in the slow lane.  This portion of the freeway is currently under construction so there is a cement barricade blocking the right shoulder.  There is no break down lane.  And for some reason, there were no hazard lights flashing on this stopped car. I immediately thought, "Oh man, that is not good." And as I got closer, I saw that the driver of the vehicle was out of their car standing in front of it in the bright headlights frantically motioning for drivers to move over to the left lane.  I should also add that it was dark, and it rained all day today so the roads were wet.  As I passed the vehicle and driver, I watched in my rear view mirror and saw a car approaching the stalled vehicle, and was luckily able to slow down and move over in time to avoid a collision.

About 30 seconds later, I called 9-1-1.

I can't help but think - what IS the best practice if my car brakes down in an area that has no shoulder and I have no hazard lights?  I certainly do not think I would get out of the vehicle and try to wave speeding cars around me, especially in the dark.  Do I hop over the cement barricade and hope for the best??  Sit in the car and press on and off the brakes so at least the lights are flashing??  Maybe start with the simple stuff - 1) always making sure I have enough gas in the vehicle and 2) knowing precisely where the button is located for my hazard lights.

My First New Car

When I graduated from college, my mom was generous enough to buy herself a new car and give me her old one.  (In the car's defense was not THAT old.  It was a '95 Honda Civic, 4 doors, stick shift, cute, white and had a moon roof!)  If you know anything about Hondas, you know they have a reputation of lasting forever.  My family is a Honda Family.

I will never forget that Thanksgiving in 2002 when my mom had my cousin and I go car shopping for her. She was pretty sure she knew what kind of car she wanted (a CRV) and she also knew she did not want to deal with the car salesmen.  So she sent us instead to test drive and browse the options. We met a nice salesman (no, really!), test drove a few cars and then sent her to do the deal. Now I knew that there was a possibility that my mom would trade in her old Civic to cut down the cost of her new car.  But inside I was reeeally hoping she would give the Civic to me. (Bear in mind that my very first car was an '86 Mazda Hatchback with no radio or speakers that was falling apart at the seams.  It died on me at the beginning of my junior year of college, and sat collecting dust parked behind my sorority house until a Mexican left a barely legible note on it telling me he would buy it for $100.  I sold it to him. I hadn't had a [functional] car for 2 years and was forced to walk everywhere or bum rides off my boyfriend and sorority sisters. So yeah, I wanted needed a car.) When Mom walked out of the dealership, she handed me the key to her old car.  I was beyond thrilled!  My Mom was an angel from heaven and there were rainbows falling from the sky and soft fluffy kittens playing at my feet. My cousin and I drove back to school down the coast highway with every window down and the radio playing as loud as it would go.  We felt like we were 16 again. 

Fast forward 5 years to 2008 and the Civic which had served my mom and I so well now had 213,000 miles on it and was on her last legs.  The last year I had her she required numerous costly repairs, to the point where the repairs were exceeding the value of the car.  That is when you stop and ask yourself why am I still pouring money into this old beat up car?  There was one week in particular where I was driving a rental car (as my Civic was not starting) and I had this moment of clarity (ah-HA!) and decided it was time to stop wasting money on repairs and rentals cars and go buy myself a new one.  I called in sick to work and walked down to the rental car, parked next to my old Civic.  Some weird gut sense in me told me to try to start the ol car one last time.  You will never believe this -- she started!  I took that as a sign and drove straight over to the Honda dealership.

I knew what I wanted: a brand new 2008 Honda Accord Coupe. The coupe was so much cuter than the 4 door.  I do not have any kids and do not plan on having any in my foreseeable future, so I fugure why not display that fact prominently.  After test driving the car, I went into the dealership to do The Deal.  I knew I probably looked like the ideal prey for any decent salesman.  I mean, come on, this was my first car buying experience, I was alone, single and driving a p.o.s. with a huge dent in the side of it (some amazing kid backed into me in a parking garage and I took the insurance money and paid off my credit card. Priorities.)  I think I surprised even myself as I had done my research and knew what I could get my new car for and what I could get for the trade in value on the Civic.  We went back and forth for at least 4 hours until I was finally satisfied.  I signed the paperwork and the car was mine! 

About 20 minutes after I'd signed the deal, one of the techs who worked at the dealership came up to me and asked if I'd ever had problems with the Civic not starting.

"Nope."