WWJOD? (What Would Jeep Owner’s DO?)

I have owned several Jeeps.  In fact, in nearly 40 years of driving (legally!), 32 of those years, I was a Jeep owner. Three of those Jeeps were Jeep Wranglers.  I have loved every one of those Wranglers. The best of all worlds I always thought. Great in the winters’ snow, perfect if you need to go off road, and a convertible in the summer.  And if you take care of them, they run forever.  The 2^nd Jeep Wrangler I had for 18 years and had almost 250K miles when I finally traded her in.

There is another thing that is very unique about owning a Jeep Wrangler. Other Jeep Wrangler owners will wave to you when they pass by.  I didn’t know about this until I bought my first one back in 1991.  I was told about this tradition by a friend who also owned a Jeep Wrangler, so I wasn’t surprised when I started getting hand waves.  I have been waving ever since!

Something occurred to me the other day while driving my Jeep and waving to other passing Jeeps; I know nothing about that person driving that Jeep.  I have no clue if they are religious or not.  I have no clue to what political party they may support or if they care about politics at all.  I may be able to see what gender or guess at what race they are, but I have no clue if they are gay or straight or interracial.  I have no clue if they immigrated to this country or were born in this country.  I have no clue to what their educational background is, or their socio-economic situation is. I have no clue if that person has led a law-abiding life or if they have a criminal background.  I know absolutely nothing about that person other than they are driving a Jeep and they took the time to make the gesture of a wave.  A friendly gesture of a wave to a complete stranger. 

We need more friendly gestures to complete strangers in this country.

What the hell is going on in this country??!!

Many people could give you an answer to that question, but without much doubt, their answer would be one-sided.  I have said for 25 years now that we have no idea what is actually going on and those that claim to have all the answers, are the most delusional.  We have been programmed to believe only what the media tells us.  And if you haven’t noticed over the last couple years, the media definitely has an agenda, with the main one being making money, no matter if what they report is factual or not.

And then there is social media. Good Lord! What a cesspool this has been the last couple years.  And when I didn’t think things could get worse than during the COVID nightmare we all lived through, 11 was hit on the volume button. 

Social media has figured out how to maximize their bottom line to the demise of us all. Algorithms guide us through this cesspool.  It is absolutely not random what is going through your feed. 

My favorite (not favorite) is when people suggest you should do your research on whatever topic is being argued about.  That always gets my loudest eyeroll!  Really? I’m not saying you shouldn’t try to inform yourself, but for every 10 articles you find leaning in one direction, there are 10 that lean the other way.  Most people will of course side with the ones they WANT to agree with, so has anyone really learned anything?  And then people argue about “credible sources”.   What makes your source more credible?  I think we are living in the Matrix.

The smartphone may be the greatest invention in human history and the worse thing to ever have happened to us.  I’m not sure we are capable to digest all the information we have in our hands.  I’m not sure it is good to be able to have potential contact with nearly every human on earth.

But I need to come full circle…

We need to be kind to each other.  Just like it cost nothing for us Jeep owners to give each other a friendly gesture, it cost nothing for us to be kind to each other. 

We know nothing about each other, other than we both drive Jeeps.  That is what we have in common.  I believe we probably have much more in common.  I believe us, as a society, have many more things in common than we have disagreements about.

And where does this arguing get us? Nowhere. Most of us are just passengers on this crazy trip.  Focus on what you can control and let go of the rest.   Our best way to voice our opinion is by voting. But then there is the conversation of politicians and that’s a whole other discussion.  Doesn’t seem like they have our best interests at heart too often.

So WWJOD? (What Would Jeep Owner’s DO). Give a friendly wave as you pass by and keep going down the road!

And be a BEAST in our JEEPS!!!

Peace to all.

The Beast Life

***Another unique thing Jeep owners have been doing is “ducking” each other! It started in 2020 by a Canadian woman named Allison Parliament.  Apparently, she was having a difficult time during the COVID lockdowns which led her to look for a way to spread some joy. 

She purchased a bag of rubber ducks and, after leaving a parking lot, saw a Jeep she admired. She placed one of the ducks on the vehicle with a note that simply read, "Nice Jeep". The Jeep owner who found the duck, along with others, found the gesture amusing and heartwarming. The idea quickly caught on, and people began documenting and sharing their discoveries online using #DuckDuckJeep. 

From its humble beginnings in Canada, the tradition spread across North America and eventually to dozens of countries worldwide. 

Tragically, Allison Parliament died in June of 2024, but her legacy continues through the #DuckDuckJeep movement.

God Bless Allison