Whiny RAV4 driver spouts off over the Jeep wave
The view from the other side
Recently, on Mike's Totally Free Jeep News, A link was posted to a website out of Delaware called, delawareonline.com referring to a rather pissy article by someone named Holly Norton. She is apparently upset that since she drives a Toyota RAV4 that Jeep owners do not wave to her. Here is the article, reprinted without permission, but Ms. Norton is given her due credit for it. (what little she deserves)
My comments in Green
Nobody likes to be left out. Yes, I realize there are people in this world who like to be independent and free thinking and all things liberal. I'm one of those people. Yeah, the following displays a ton of free thinking. But when there's a joke and I don't get it, I'm annoyed. The only thing worse than a joke I don't get is an inside joke that doesn't include me. Inside jokes, hand signals, secret languages -- if I'm not in, I'm not down. And what do I do when I'm excluded? I do what every other mature adult on the planet does. I mock. Of course you do. Typical non-Jeep driver. So, allow me to begin with a hand signal on the road that I have always been excluded from: The Jeep Wave. Let's see... No Jeep, no wave. Pretty simple, don't you think? The first time I experienced The Jeep Wave, I was in my old Oldsmobile waving happily to what I thought was a new friend on the road. Seconds later I realized he was waving at the Jeep in front of me. Brighter than I thought, this one. It was my first experience with wave discrimination. You discriminated against yourself by buying an Olds. Who do these Jeep people think they are anyway? People who are being civil and courteous to each other. Unlike yourself. Enter Kelly Housen, reporter for Spark and snotty Jeep driver.
Oh, snotty. I see how this is going to be. Who do we think we are? We think that we are fantastic people who have a car that looks cool, has a top that can go down and can drive over things. A blizzard will never keep us inside, and we never have to stock up on bread and milk because unlike everyone else, our cars can drive in the blizzard. We like to acknowledge that we can drive over your pissy little Saturns and wanna-be SUVs. Hey Holly, does that spanking new SUV of yours have four-wheel drive?
Ouch. Right for the jugular. I see that once the mitts come off your spastically waving hands, you Jeep drivers really aren't that friendly after all. Still, we never really uncovered anything here. I'm wondering if I were to wave to you from my new sweet-ass Toyota Rav4, would you wave back? Possibly, if such a thing as a sweet-ass RAV4 actually existed. Note how the previous question is not answered.
Yes, I certainly would wave back. We Jeep folk are a friendly people, and, Holly, we're friends. But if it wasn't you and just a random driver waving at me, a few things would go through my mind. Do you have a Jeep, but happen to be driving another car and are waving out of habit? Do you think I am someone else? Should I remember this strange person that's waving to me? I find that the best course of action in all of those situations is to wave back.
Fine. But what you're saying is that you'd never initiate the wave to non-Jeep drivers. The ultimate self-answering question.
"The Wave" is only for Jeeps. I will initiate a wave if I see friends or family driving, maybe even accompanied by a small toot of the horn. But I will not wave at a stranger unless they are in a Jeep. Jeep people will back me up on this.
Ugh. Somehow I still feel like I'm being taunted. Take it anyway you prefer. Are you one of those seizure-inducing Jeep wavers who owns all that "Life is Good" Jeep paraphernalia. The Jeep hat? The tire cover with the smiley face? Do you subscribe to JPFreek magazine? (It exists. Nerds.) Does it really bother you that much that no-one cares enough to publish a RAV4 magazine? Whiny wench.
Nope. But I do have really cool pictures of my Jeep going up a big hill in the woods and with water up to the hood. It looks tough.
Looks can be deceiving, Little Miss "When-Harry-Met-Sally"-Is-My-Favorite-Movie-Of-All-Time. And let's get back to your smackdown on my dear departed Saturn (bless her little heart) and my new sweet-ass sounds like she's trying to convince herself Toyota Rav4. For the record, I drove my Saturn home from work in the middle of the Blizzard of 2003 where we saw less than 20 inches of snow over President's Day weekend, How much less, 19 inches? and she handled just fine. Uh huh, 20 inches. that's higher than your Saturn's hood. Plowed roads don't count, sweetie.
No doubt 20 inches will be chump change to the Rav4. As long as the road is plowed, that is.
And did you know that the definition of the Jeep Wave includes a phrase that reads: "an honor bestowed upon those drivers with the superior intelligence, taste, class, and discomfort tolerance to own the ultimate vehicle - the Jeep."
Discomfort, eh?
Riding in the Rav4 Sport is like butter. Butter I say! That'll happen in a vehicle about as tough as a stick of butter, too.
Butter? Sounds more like sour grapes to me. I will say that I enjoyed my ride in the Rav4. But that's nothing compared to driving on the beach (that's on, not at) in a Jeep with the salty wind blowing in your hair and the sun shining on your face. So what if I zip my windows up and down. You have my number if you need me to pull you out of the snow this winter.
And besides, I am a driver with superior intelligence, taste and class. My choice of favorite movie, and my choice of vehicle, reflect that.
And thus my conclusion that not only are Jeep drivers snotty, they are also delusional.
Here is a classic example of that well-known malady, Jeep envy. It normally manifests itself in persons not bright enough to own the first, and still best 4WD on the planet. Ms.Norton is miffed that people in Jeeps don't wave to her. There is a reason for this, you whiny wench. In 1946, when Toyota did not exist, and Japan was mostly a smoking hole in the dirt, the direct predecessor of the Wrangler ( Military Jeep) was there transporting victorious US troops. When those troops got home they wanted the vehicle they drove during the war. and for over 60 years, The Jeep has continued to be built, modified, and driven. When the RAV 4 has passed into history, the Wrangler will still be out there, driving over, around and through everything thrown against it....... Especially whiny-ass Toyota drivers.