Episode #230: Rural Waving Etiquette

The two-finger standard.

Howdy folks:

Welcome to Michael Perry’s Voice Mail, episode 230. This one’s available to free and paid subscribers alike. Click the player above to listen.

In this episode I answer a reader’s question about the etiquette of waving when you meet someone on a country road, and how that small civilized gesture heartens me on days when I need heartening.

When driving, my preference is the one- or two-finger steering wheel raise, but there are other options, including the seed-corn-cap brim-brush salute, demonstrated below:

Below is my dad, four decades ago, demonstrating his trademark “‘V’ for Victory” wave. His in his 80s now, but if you meet him on the road, you’re getting the same wave. (Scroll down to the MARGINALIA section for more background.)

As ever, thanks for riding along—and waving.

See y’down the road,
Mike

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Today’s episode is built on “The Wave,” an essay in my book Hunker: Brief Essays on Human Connection, available here.

Mike’s books, recordings, T-shirts, stickers and can koozies in the Sneezing Cow store.

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MARGINALIA

I had to look up how to pronounce it before recording today’s episode.

Explaining Dad’s “V” sign (from the book Truck: A Love Story).

From Population 485.

From Truck: A Love Story.