I try to be a nice guy. Really I do. Ask anyone who knows me, and they'll tell you that yes, I am a nice guy. I hold open doors for people. I tip well. I don't litter. I'm dumb to kind animals. I even go so far as to let people in ahead of me if traffic is heavy and they're obviously in the wrong lane.
I realize that often people take advantage of my consideration, especially jackwagons that zoom ahead and merge at the last second instead of getting in line like civilized folks. Still, for every ten or twelve jerks who do that, there is one poor soul who is genuinely lost, or timid, or who just made a mistake and could use a little courtesy.
For these lost lambs I'll toot my horn, flash my lights, or otherwise wave them in ahead of me. Maybe I've made someone's day a little better. Maybe I've done unto others as I'd have them do unto me. I don't know.
What I do know is this: I want The Wave. The Wave can take many forms. A hand out the window. A smile. A nod. A glance in the rear view mirror and a hand raised briefly in recognition that someone has done something nice for you. It's not that hard to do.
Since I started paying attention who Waves and who doesn't, I've been Waved by young and old, men and women, teenagers, older folks, cops, thugs, pizza guys, people driving SUVs, hybrids, motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, buses, tractor trailer trucks, hoopties, jacked up El Caminos, Mercedes, a Bently once, pretty much the whole automotive spectrum across this great land of ours.
Except The BMW 300 series.
BMW 500 and up? No problem. They rank way above average on the Wave scale. 2002's? Beautiful people all. Even Z3 and Z4 roadsters. But there's something about a BMW 300 series driver that refuses to realize there are other people on the road. I swear, you have to fail a personality test before they'll sell you one those cars. A few weeks ago I was cut off by three different BMW 300's in a span of ten minutes on my way to work. You'd think if someone was going to shell out a few grand more for the leather package and moon roof they'd toss in an extra twenty bucks for a pair of turn signals. Maybe there's a recall I haven't heard about, but I've never seen a turn signal in action on a BMW 300.
So, if you find yourself unexpectedly in the Left Turn Only lane, and you glance desperately over your shoulder, hoping against hope that someone will bail you out of the mess you find yourself in, take heart. I'm not the only one who's willing to take a little longer to get where I'm going if it means helping a stranger in need. As long as you're not driving a 300 Beemer.
