In our part of rural Wisconsin there is a particular thing that happens if your drive a full sized pickup truck. It does not have to be new or shiney, just a pickup. This phenomenon doesn't seem to occur when I am driving my '95 Cavalier. In fact I seem to be invisible in the car.
I drove my GMC 4X4 yesterday and today because of our rather snowy weather. And yes, I did have to use 4 wheel drive to break through some sizeable drifts that were across both our back road and our county road.
This particular thing is the one fingered wave. The other driver, who is usually driving a pickup also, lifts one finger or a few and waggles them at you as you pass on the back roads. In the summer, when you meet a farmer on a tractor, the same thing applies. This is the very rural way of saying howdy as you pass each other on the backroads.
Not only that, I know that if I were to have trouble and break down...or 'fall' into the ditch. One of those people would stop and help out a stranger. I would too. I see it often on our county roads. Last week a car slide off into the ditch on ice. Another car stopped to offer the 'ditched' driver a warm place to sit while the tow truck and sheriff arrived.
This is my rural community. Tight knit and willing to help a neighbor even if they don't really know them.
And the finger wave. I've gotten it down to an art now. I can do it as well as any other driver.
Sample of today's drive...
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