BTM's recent thread just made me think of this. When I go running, I sometimes take a route through a nearby golf course community. I run on the side of the road toward oncoming traffic, and see a lot of cars that are going 20-25mph. People tend to wave to me, but it depends on their age, gender, and sometimes numbers. I'm guessing on the ages, but you get the idea:
Men 27 and under, never wave.
Men who are 28-49, always raise their hand in that male "respect" wave. Yo, respect, bro.
Men 50+ sometimes wave from their cars, but always wave if they are in their yard or driveway as I pass by.
Women 25 and under don't wave unless more than 1 is in the car. The more girls in the car, the more likely they are to wave and to be enthusiastic about it.
Women 26-45 almost always wave and smile, unless a man is in the car with them.
Women 46+ usually wave, but always give me a bright "Good morning!" or similar greeting if they are in their yard.
The other day a woman (probably age 30-35) who was driving with her husband gave me a big smile and wave. I saw him turn his head sharply and say something to her. He didn't look happy.
Andrew, I take it, this golf course community is not in Texas.
While I have stopped doing it, when I was younger, on my vacations and on weekends, I use to drive all over the state. and all over the United States. And this is what I learned about people waving.
As a male, I noticed that men would wave more than women.
People who were driving solo, were more likely to wave than those who were traveling with someone.
While I have gotten waves from people on the freeway, people who drive the backroads of the state, are the more likely to wave.
People who drove pickups were more likely to wave than people who drove other vehicles.
The slower the person is driving, the more likely they are to wave.
Maybe it was because of where I was, when people waved, but farmers and ranchers wave more than any other occupation.
I have found that Texans are more likely to wave than people from anyother state.
And I'll see if there is anything more I can remember about people waving.
Just walk away from the gasoline and there won't be any trouble.
Wait..this is the Road Warrior kinda road we're talking about, right?
I never wave at joggers...not sure why. Nor do I greet people while walking. I'm just not very social.
After I previously posted my previous thread, I did remember two more things about people waving.
Race does not matter.
As a white person, I've had brown people. Black people. White people. All types of people wave to me.
Age does.
I have found that the older the person is, the more likely they are to wave.
I'm in Delaware, so it could be some of that jaded Northerner manners (politely ignoring others) coming into play.
Jenna has taken to getting up some mornings and riding her bike with me. At first she had a hard time keeping up, but her legs are getting stronger (some hills here and there), and now I cannot keep up with her. Something I've noticed about Jenna being with me is that it makes women with children in the car almost certain to wave, as are older women, but younger women are much less likely to wave.
"Oh no, he's got baggage!"
When I run, I do notice that, without exception, all fellow runners going the other way offer a verbal greeting, usually either a "hello," a "what's up," or a "good evening" (I run in the early evening only), depending on the generational vernacular and level of formality. I honestly can't think of an instance when I haven't gotten at least a "hi."