No One Can Hear Me Scream: Part 1, The Country Wave
Sorry for my long blog absences lately! I know I say it a lot but, man, life is crazy sometimes! First it was G$’s teeth, then we ended up in the ER, then it was pneumonia, then an ear infection and roseola. In the middle of all that, it’s planting season, we’re doing some massive house cleaning for G$’s baptism/party this weekend…it’s nuts.
With everything that’s gone on thus far during planting season, it occurred to me that I’ve been living out here either part- or full-time for almost SEVEN YEARS. How did this happen?! Holy CRAP! So it’s no wonder, then, that I’ve been noticing some…errr…changes…in my behavior that I can’t help but think are due 100% completely and totally to many years of life in the sticks (or stix, if you’re from the Ridge).
This is the first part in a several part series I like to call “No One Can Hear Me Scream.”
What the hell happened to me? I used to be able to drive around, listen to the radio, get where I was going and go home. Not anymore. Now, I’m too busy focusing on every.freaking.car that comes my way. What color is it? What model is it? Most importantly, is it someone I know? It doesn’t matter, I end up waving even if I don’t know them.
When I first started visiting the area, I can’t tell you how many times I would be riding with Adam and someone would drive past and wave and I’d ask who it was. 95% of the time, he had no idea. But he waved back. At the time, I thought to myself that I’d probably have a panic attack if some stranger drove by and waved like they knew me. Now I’m doing it too. I really don’t know how it happened.
It will probably come as no surprise when I say that there are a lot of trucks in the area. A lot of American-made trucks. Lots of SUVs as well. I have many friends with Ford trucks, specifically. Gray, red, blue, green, you name it. As a result, I find myself looking at the driver of every Ford truck in every color of the rainbow, and waving before I even know what I’m doing. And it doesn’t matter where I am. I did it in Chicago too. Not that there were many Ford trucks on the Magnificent Mile, but you can be damn sure the ones that did go by got a big wave as they passed!
I want to embrace this friendly country attitude, but my inner snarkiness just won’t let me get all the way there. I still don’t like people to wave at me. How can I be sure they’re waving and not flipping the bird when I pass them at 70 mph? Either way, as my grandpa says, I “guaran-damn-tee” that if you drive a: Ford or Chevy truck, a Grand Prix, a Ford, Chevy, Lincoln, ok basically ANY American made SUV (or, better yet, a foreign one, then I really know it’s a fellow snob behind the wheel), I’ll be waving. And you better wave back, you overly friendly assholes. 😉
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