Come and Listen to a Story.....

Hopefully, all of you remember the "old days" of TV.  You know, when Saturday morning cartoons involved Bugs Bunny, the Roadrunner and Wiley Coyote.  Sunday evenings always involved the "Wonderful World of Disney".  Weekdays you looked forward to Batman, Gilligan's Island, The Beverly Hillbillies, etc.  The shows were corny but wholesome.  I still can't figure out who decided that Bugs Bunny was too violent for children, but SpongeBob is ok.  Anyway, I was grateful when my kids were growing up that TVLand existed.  My kids grew up watching the old shows and listening to 70's music.  I ran the risk of having my children out of touch with the world and thinking that there had been a time warp somewhere, but I was willing to take the chance.  The world, as I saw it was better back then.

There is a point to all of this.  I got my first new vehicle in about 15 years ago, back in May.  I went and got a stickshift.  (Can you really and truly have a Jeep without one!?)  It takes a little more work to drive a stickshift, but it can be fun.  Okay, I admit it, after four months I still panic on a hill and scare anyone around me who hears me rev the engine in first gear or reverse.  The revving is usually followed by an immediate "I'm sorry, I will get better."  when someone else is with me in the car.  And if you see me driving down the road, I am not always singing, sometimes I am arguing with my talking car and sometimes I am just coaching myself.

There is still a point to all of this that I will tie together.  When you buy a vehicle, you get a manual that goes with it.  It tells you how to connect your phone to the car, how to set the time and radio stations, how to put in four wheel drive, how to turn on the windshield wipers, lights, etc.  Doc seems to think that everyone should read this manual cover to cover.  Right!!!!  Isn't that what the service center is for?  I open it when I need it.  Apparently, there is also an unwritten manual that everyone should know about too.  As far as I can tell, this only applies to Jeep Wranglers.  I feel that I should have been notified of this.  The only way to know about it, is if someone you know also has a Jeep Wrangler and knows the rules.  It is like some sort of secret club that you have to be invited to belong to.  At any rate, this club also has a secret "handshake".  It is not really a handshake, but a wave.  You simply lift two fingers on your left hand off the steering wheel.  That's it.  They also do not tell you that your feelings will be hurt when another Jeep does not signal you back.  I have now gotten to the point where I am keeping score.  When Pook drives the Jeep, I am terrified that I will get a bad reputation if he doesn't "wave".  I am also concerned that not waving can potentially get you thrown out of the club, and your Jeep will potentially be revoked. 

Which brings me to this....what happens if you do not wave properly?  Believe me, it happens.  First of all, your friends and family will laugh hysterically, because they know the wave.  How is it that I didn't know!?  Then they start watching you and training you every time they are in the car with you.  Oh yes, they also tell everyone you know about how you wave.  As I left the dealership for the first time in my Jeep, I was grinning from hear to ear and was MASSIVELY excited.  I saw another Jeep and did a very over the top excited wave in the front windshield.  And then I heard, "What are you doing!?"  and the lessons began. 

So finally, here is the connection.  I want to save any uninformed Jeep owners some stress and embarrassment.  Remember, only lift two fingers of the left hand off the wheel.  If you are seen waving like Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies as you drive by another Jeep, you might NEVER live it down.  And for the rest of your ownership, assuming you aren't thrown out of the club, you will hear the theme song to the Beverly Hillbillies every time you pass another Jeep.  "Come and list to a story "bout a man named Jed......"  Hmm, was that truck of his a Jeep?  Smile and have a GREAT MomSense Monday and week.